Lome - Togo — Representatives of the Governments of Benin and Togo have handed over the documents for the approved sites for the construction of two Joint Border Posts (JBPs) at Seme, between Benin and Nigeria and Noepe, between Ghana and Togo - along the Lagos-Abidjan corridor.
The two posts are part of the seven originally envisaged for construction in West Africa to facilitate the intra-Community movement of goods and services by addressing the delays associated with the processing of travelers at the borders. A third Joint Border Post for this phase is at Melanville between Benin and Niger. The three JBPs are estimated to cost some 37 million Euros under a sponsorship agreement between the European Union, ECOWAS and the Economic and Monetary Union of West Africa (UEMOA), an eight-member sub-regional organization.
The projects are being funded from the 9th European Development Fund from a 63 million Euro grant under the Fund, part of which will also go towards supporting the development of railway infrastructure and capacity building. The Joint Border Posts are considered a fundamental step towards achieving the twin objectives of facilitating crossing at the borders by speeding up formalities and setting up the enabling conditions for the eventual lifting of borders, thus creating a borderless ECOWAS region. With the completion of formalities on the site, the contractors are expected to begin work immediately so as to hand-over the completed project by June 2012. At two separate ceremonies held at Seme and Noepe on Thursday, 24th and Friday, 25th February 2011 respectively, representatives of ECOWAS and the European Union as well as the Governments of the four beneficiary Member States made important statements on the JBPs.
The quiet ceremony at Seme and the elaborate one at Noepe attracted scores of border officials, including the Gendarmerie, Customs and Immigration officers from the four countries as well as some members of the diplomatic community. At both ceremonies, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Infrastructure, Mr. Celestin Talaki, lauded the efforts of Benin, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo for taking the lead to become part of the process of initiating the JBPs through sacrificing part of their sovereignty to ensure the realization of the project. He disclosed that the Government of Benin allocated over 17 hectares of land for the construction of the Joint Border Post at Seme and that Togo donated some 10 hectares of land. He therefore expressed ECOWAS' appreciation to the Beninese and Togolese Governments. While identifying lack of appropriate infrastructure as one among many factors hindering border crossing, Mr. Talaki expressed gratitude to the European Union "for assisting the region to overcome this serious problem of high cost of transportation".
Mr. Talaki said the architectural design of the JBPs was done through a participatory process and that the concerns of the various stakeholders were taken into consideration. He thanked the four Member States for their contributions and called on all the stakeholders to remain mobilized for the total success of the project. He also charged the contractors handling the JBPs to ensure their completion within the 15-month deadline. While speaking to journalists after the ceremonies, the Commissioner re-echoed the sentiments of the President of the ECOWAS Commission at the signing ceremony of the contracts for the JBPs recently in Abuja: "The provision of joint border posts and modern enabling facilities is an indicator that ours is a flagship project and a good example of regional integration and the exchange of regional public goods with a spill-over range of benefits". The Ambassador of the European Union to Benin, Francoise Collet and her counter in Ghana, Claude Maerten, addressed the sessions at Seme and Noepe, respectively. They both assured of the EU's continued support to ECOWAS in its developmental efforts, noting that regional integration is the key to development and that the JBPs would contribute to the development of the region. Ambassador Collet said the EU's support from 2005-2011 is 858 million Euros (approximate 500 billion Franc CFA). She explained that the first phase of the project would cover three JBPs in line with the Cotonou Agreement to eradicate poverty through regional integration, adding that the high cost of transportation is a hindrance to trade and integration in the region.
On his part, Mr. Maerten, said the 8.8 million Euros Noepe project would result in faster movements of goods and services across the frontiers to reduce the cost of transacting business by about 25 per cent. He observed that regional integration, which thrives on peace among Member States, represented the major ingredient in promoting regional trade. The Ambassador of Ghana to Togo, Mr. Johnny Kwadjo, who represented Ghana's Minister of Foreign affairs, said the project was timely and would boost trade across the borders. In addition, he said the removal of the cumbersome procedures would facilitate the crossing of ordinary border area citizens to meet their social commitments. Mr Kwadjo observed that the transport, telecommunications and energy sectors were critical to regional integration and that the Government of Ghana would support and promote all efforts to ensure the success of integration.
In his contribution, an official of the Togolese Ministry of Economic Planning and Finance, Mr. Mawussi Djossou Semodji, lauded the project, saying it would strengthen the bonds of friendship between Togo and Ghana. Nigeria's Foreign Minister, who was represented by the Director of Cooperation in the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Mr. Peter Iyamabo, said Nigeria, as one of the direct beneficiaries of the JBPs, welcomed the initiative and thanked the EU for its support. He charged the contractors to expedite action on the project and ensure its completion within the set target date, adding that it would be celebration time when such projects as the JBPs were realized for the benefit of the Community common citizen.
Also, the Representative of the Minister of Economy and Finance of Benin, Mr. Urbain Adjanon who is the Acting Director General of Economic Affairs in the Ministry, said Benin was honoured to be part of the Seme-Krake JBP as well as those of Benin-Niger as well as that proposed for Benin-Togo and reiterated the commitment of his country to ensure the success of the projects in order to fulfill the dream of the people of Benin. At the two ceremonies, the Director of Transport and Telecoms, ECOWAS Commission, Mr. David Kamara said the project was introduced about a year ago and the event was aimed at implementing the initiative.
According to him, ECOWAS and UEMOA met in Accra, Ghana with all stakeholders and the E.U to put together a regional transportation programme and at that meeting, the Joint Border Posts project was identified as most critical to the attainment of regional integration, and in particular, transport facilitation within the ECOWAS sub region. He said a functionality study was also conducted in 2008 to determine the needs of the JBPs that would benefit the member states and people of the West African region, hence, the design process for the JBPs was completed in 2010. Kamara pointed out that the whole process from inception had been consultative with the involvement of all stakeholders. He informed that the set target for the completion of the Seme Krake Joint Border Post between Nigeria and Benin Republic is June 2012 which is a period of 15 months. He therefore called for the cooperation of all stakeholders to ensure the success of the project by the set period. the design process for the JBPs was completed in 2010.
Kamara pointed out that the whole process from inception had been consultative with the involvement of all stakeholders. He informed that the set target for the completion of the Seme Krake Joint Border Post between Nigeria and Benin Republic is June 2012 which is a period of 15 months. He therefore called for the cooperation of all stakeholders to ensure the success of the project by the set period.
