Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has revealed that terrorist attacks claim an average of 44 lives every day in West Africa and the Sahel region, with approximately eight attacks occurring daily across the area. The grim statistics were disclosed Thursday during the opening of a two day High Level Consultative Conference on Regional Cooperation and Security in the capital.
The conference brought together senior government officials, ministers and heads of state from Burkina Faso, Liberia, Mauritania, Nigeria and Mali to discuss comprehensive strategies for tackling the escalating security crisis. According to Ablakwa, between 47 and nearly 60 percent of global terrorist activities now occur in West Africa, underscoring the region’s emergence as the new epicenter of violent extremism.
The epicenter of global terrorism has moved from the Middle East to our region. We now account for at least 47 percent to 59 percent of all recorded global terrorism, the minister said in his opening remarks. He described the situation as a grim and urgent reality requiring immediate collective action.
Statistics presented at the conference show that terrorism attacks have surged by 1,266 percent over the past 15 years, while the death toll has increased by a staggering 2,860 percent over the same period. The figures paint a stark picture of how the security landscape across West Africa and the Sahel has deteriorated dramatically since 2010.
Beyond terrorism, Ablakwa highlighted additional threats compounding the region’s challenges. Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea continues to threaten maritime commerce and safety, while human trafficking across porous borders remains rampant. These interrelated problems, he argued, represent a silent erosion of resilience within the community.
Fragmentation, suspicion and limited information sharing diminish our collective ability to address shared issues and undermine the economic and social advantages of integration, the foreign minister warned. He called for a fundamental shift in how regional states cooperate on security matters.
Today, let us commit to building a new culture of transparency, confidence and actionable intelligence sharing. Trust is not built overnight. It is forged through consistent engagement, demonstrated solidarity in times of crisis, and a willingness to place collective interest above narrow national gain, Ablakwa added.
Interior Minister Muntaka Mohammed Mubarak echoed the foreign minister’s concerns, noting that terrorism and violent extremism have not merely persisted but have intensified and expanded their reach with alarming sophistication. He called on security and intelligence chiefs gathered at the conference to confront these threats decisively and save the region’s population from what he termed an existential threat.
The conference takes place against the backdrop of mounting insecurity across the Sahel, where armed groups including Jama’at Nusrat al Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) and Islamic State affiliates have expanded their operations. Recent attacks on military installations in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have killed hundreds of soldiers and displaced millions of civilians.
Ghana, under President John Dramani Mahama’s administration, has positioned itself as a key diplomatic player in efforts to restore regional cooperation on security matters. The country hosted similar high level consultations in 2022 as part of the Accra Initiative, a framework established in 2017 by Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Togo to prevent terrorism spillover from the Sahel into coastal states.
However, recent political developments have complicated regional security coordination. Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger withdrew from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in 2024 and formed the Alliance of Sahel States, citing political and security disagreements with the bloc. Their absence from ECOWAS structures has created gaps in intelligence sharing and joint operations at a time when cooperation is most needed.
Despite these divisions, Ghana has maintained diplomatic engagement with all parties. President Mahama visited Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso in May 2025, becoming one of the first regional leaders to undertake such trips after the formation of the Alliance of Sahel States.
Security analysts attending the Accra conference emphasized that military force alone cannot resolve the terrorism crisis. Dr Vladimir Antwi Danso, an international relations and security expert, recently argued that addressing root causes such as unemployment, poor governance and lack of educational opportunities is essential to countering extremist recruitment.
The United Nations has warned that the Sahel now accounts for over half of global terrorism casualties. In July 2025, Secretary General António Guterres described the security situation as growing more critical by the day, with armed groups driving mass displacement, closing thousands of schools and health facilities, and leaving millions without essential services.
The High Level Consultative Conference is expected to conclude Friday with commitments from participating states to strengthen intelligence sharing mechanisms, enhance border security and coordinate military responses to terrorist threats. Discussions will also focus on maritime insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea and strategies to combat transnational organized crime networks that finance extremist operations.
The conference represents a crucial test of whether West African states can overcome political divisions and rebuild the trust necessary for effective collective security. With terrorism showing no signs of abating and civilian casualties mounting daily, regional leaders face mounting pressure to deliver concrete results beyond diplomatic declarations.
