Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire partner to patrol territorial waters

Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire have reached an agreement to conduct  regular joint inspections along the two countries' international maritime boundaries in compliance with the ruling of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS).

The move is aimed at ensuring that firms exploiting oil on the high seas from the two countries are kept at bay and also to prevent future territorial disputes and safeguard their respective marine resources and economic interests.

Consequently, a joint naval operation from both countries would be conducted along the respective territories from next year to protect their sovereign rights and jurisdiction over maritime areas.

The exercise is expected to be facilitated by the Ghana Boundary Commission (GhBC) and Cote d’Ivoire Boundary Commission (CNFCI).

This was contained in a joint communique issued in Accra after a two-day technical committee meeting between Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire.

Collaboration

The Director-General of GhBC, Major General Emmanuel Kotia, in an interview with the Daily Graphic at the close of deliberations in Accra, stated that a joint regular inspection was part of measures designed to implement the ITLOS ruling.

“We will conduct a joint regular inspection along the international maritime boundary, currently Ghana does the inspection alone but our counterparts from Cote d’Ivoire have agreed to join us.

“And so, the two navies will collaborate through a facilitation from the two national boundary commissions,” he said.

He said the two parties had agreed that there should be a continuation of the reaffirmation exercise on Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire land boundary by reaffirming additional 300 kilometres next year.

“Reaffirming 300 kilometres will bring the total exercise to about 450 kilometres with 150 kilometres remaining.

“Once we have validated this framework agreement which will be signed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, it means that the way has been cleared for us to collaborate at a strategic operational level as far as land and boundary borders are concerned,” he said.

The communique

The parties, in the communique, agreed on finalisation of phase one of the reaffirmation exercise to be jointly undertaken between January and March 2025.

Phase two of the reaffirmation exercise shall be undertaken between September 2025 and October 2025.

It said dates for the commencement of phase three of the reaffirmation exercise would be decided at the next joint plenary meeting of the boundary commissions.

The parties agreed that heads of the two boundary commissions shall lead respective delegations to submit the maps based on the ITLOS ruling on the international maritime boundary line to the United Nations (UN) Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (DOALOS) on April 27, 2025.

Commitment

The Executive Secretary of CNFCI, Konate Diakalidia, stated that Cote d’Ivoire was committed to partner with Ghana to safeguard their respective territories.

“The primary objective of this meeting, which was to expedite the reaffirmation exercise of boundaries, has been successfully accomplished.

“It has also helped us to develop strategies to fully implement the ITLOS ruling,” he added.

The meeting

The meeting was held by the Ghana Boundary Commission and Cote d’Ivoire Boundary Commission (CNFCI) with support from German Development Agency (GIZ), African Union Border Programme (AUBP) and West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA).

With about 36 participants selected from Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire, the meeting created a platform to formulate an action plan for the implementation of the ruling on international boundary dispute between the two countries.

The key topics included the creation of a joint border patrol to ensure the boundaries are intact at all times, and develop strategies to complete the boundary reaffirmation exercise between the two countries in 2025.