Border Stability in West Africa: Actors Unite for Enhanced Coordination

By Abdoulaye Mamadou SOUKOUNA, IBSM Communications coordinator

In the face of expanding security threats and rising violence along border areas, the Integrated Border Stability Mechanism (IBSM) for West Africa, convened a high-level regional conference on 9 and 10 July 2025, bringing together national delegations, financial partners and implementing organizations to strengthen regional cooperation and review progress achieved since the establishment of the mechanism.

The region is facing escalating security challenges. Instability in the Sahel, which has become the epicenter of terrorism counting more than half of all terrorism-related deaths in 2024, has placed increasing pressure on land border areas. At the same time, spillover risks toward coastal states continue to shape the regional landscape. The figures speak clearly. 46% of violent incidents in the region occur within one hundred kilometers of a border. In addition, 90% of migration movements remain intra-regional. These indicators highlight the urgent need for more integrated and better coordinated border governance and security.

Colonel Amadou Moussa NDIR, Executive Secretary of Senegal’s National Border Management Commission (host country and newly admitted as IBSM focus country) emphasized that “border governance and security pose transnational challenges that demand integrated responses and reinforced cooperation. This is the only path to transforming our borders into spaces that foster peace, security, and stability.”

This need for integrated and cooperative approaches is precisely what the IBSM was designed to address as a multilateral coordination structure promoting regional stability through Integrated Border Governance and Security.

That is why the regional conference provided an opportunity to review progress achieved since the mechanism became operational, to identify current priorities, and to strengthen synergies among all stakeholders. It also marked the culmination of a series of national consultations carried out in the seven IBSM focus countries – Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Niger, and Togo. – that resulted to the development of Joint Baseline Assessments (JBAs). These assessments highlight the strategic gaps and priority needs of these IBSM focus countries. The JBA for Senegal is currently under development, as the country joined the IBSM only in July 2025.

Tobias GROTHE, Head of the Security Sector Reform Unit at the German Federal Foreign Office, highlighted the importance of these assessments, noting that they “offer a precise overview of the capacities and needs of member states, allowing donors to provide more effective support while avoiding duplication of efforts.” Enriched by an in-depth review of national legal frameworks, these reports now serve as a reliable foundation for decision-making and help target priority interventions within member states.

The conference also marked the launch of Phase 2 of the IBSM’s activities, which focuses on operationalizing the recommendations from the Joint Baseline Assessments and developing initiatives tailored to the specific priority needs of the IBSM focus countries. The group discussions, held in a spirit of collaboration and partnership, fostered forward-looking exchanges and dialogue on strengthening strategic coordination among States, international funding partners and implementing organizations.

National delegations from the IBSM focus countries delivered a clear message: priorities are now defined and ranked, and the time has come for concrete action. Habi GARBA, Police Commissioner General and head of the Niger delegation, stressed that “we expect to see international partners support the implementation of concrete, structured and needs-based initiatives.”

For all 112 participants, the objective was clear and commonly shared. In the context of rapidly evolving and increasingly complex security threats, regional cooperation grounded in reliable data, rigorous analysis and strong national ownership remains essential to safeguarding peace, enhancing security and supporting sustainable and resilient development across West Africa.

This event was made possible thanks to the support of the Federal Foreign Office of Germany, the United States Department of State and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Italy.

To read this article and more: Download the Nov/Dec 2025 issue