Vice President Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang has called for stronger regional collaboration to address security and development challenges, warning that fragmented approaches are insufficient against transnational threats such as terrorism, violent extremism, organised crime, cyberattacks, and youth unemployment.
Speaking at the ministerial session of the High-Level Consultative Conference on Regional Cooperation and Security in Accra, the Vice President emphasized the need for integrated frameworks that prevent crises rather than merely reacting to them. She stressed that coordinated political commitment across West Africa is essential for lasting peace and shared prosperity.
The two-day conference, convened under President John Mahama, brings together ministers and experts from Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo, alongside representatives from the African Union, UNDP, and other regional bodies.
Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa highlighted the existential threat posed by the southward spread of violent extremism from the Sahel, urging structured, multidimensional cooperation. Senior officials, including Interior Minister Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak and National Security Coordinator COP Osman Abdul-Razak, called for enhanced intelligence sharing, trust-building, and strategic coordination to strengthen the region’s security architecture.