By Hannah Dadzie
Vice President Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang has challenged West African and Sahelian states to move beyond declarations and adopt a results-driven framework that delivers tangible security outcomes for citizens across the region.
Speaking at the ministerial meeting of the High-Level Consultative Conference on Regional Cooperation and Security in Accra, Professor Opoku-Agyemang said the credibility of regional security efforts now depends on governments’ ability to translate shared analysis into coordinated action.
“This ministerial meeting sits at the heart of the conference. This is where analysis must be translated into policy direction and where national priorities are aligned to inform regional choices. Your task is to provide guidance that strengthens regional security, supports effective cooperation and ensures that our efforts are both credible and actionable,” the Vice President said.
She stressed that while political commitment to regional cooperation is growing, the real test lies in implementation through clear mandates, strong institutions, and sustained coordination.
Professor Opoku-Agyemang added that security challenges confronting the region are no longer confined to borders or single sectors, making isolated national responses ineffective.She further noted that prevention must underpin future cooperation, describing it as both a strategic and economic imperative.
“Early action, supported by timely information-sharing and joint risk analysis, reduces the cost of instability and eases pressure on national systems,” she said.
Also addressing the meeting, Minister of Foreign Affairs Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa urged West African and Sahelian states to anchor regional security cooperation in Pan-African values, local ownership and long-term institution building. He said the region must move beyond fragmented engagement and episodic diplomacy to a structured system capable of managing shared risks and sustaining trust among states.
“Our continent has long aspired to transcend fragmentation and embrace solidarity. Today, as we face new and complex threats, we must rekindle the spirit of Pan-Africanism not as a nostalgic ideal but as a pragmatic necessity,” Mr Ablakwa said.
Drawing on Africa’s historical struggle for unity and self-determination, the Minister described Pan-Africanism as a working principle for governance and cooperation, warning that fragmentation erodes both collective capacity and the economic and social benefits of integration.
He stressed that the draft outcome document emerging from the ministerial meeting must serve as a practical roadmap rather than a statement of intent. Ministers, he said, have a responsibility to convert intelligence assessments and technical inputs into concrete political decisions that can guide sustained cooperation.
“Regional frameworks must be grounded in the lived realities of affected communities. Solutions imposed without local ownership risk losing legitimacy and durability,” he added,
Mr Ablakwa expressed optimism that the ministerial deliberations would produce a forward-looking document for Heads of State and Government capable of restoring confidence, deepening solidarity, and strengthening regional resilience.
The conference follows a consolidated security assessment presented by regional intelligence chiefs, whose findings are expected to inform the draft outcome document. That document will outline proposed mechanisms for cooperation and serve as a basis for long-term regional engagement, laying the groundwork for a more coherent, accountable, and people-centred security architecture across West Africa and the Sahel.
