Relief, concern as Ghana reopens borders

Before the Ghana-Togo border was closed, Bright Tavi, a health worker in Aflao, a border town in Ghana's Volta region, would cross regularly to engage in small-scale trade to support his family.

But ever since Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo ordered the borders closed in March 2020, Tavi has struggled to survive. 

Two years later, he says the reopening could not have come at a better time.

"The opening of the border is great news, and it is something that we all have been hoping for, and the opening of this border, I believe is going to affect our lives positively," Tavi told DW.

As a side income, Tavi weaves kente cloth, a brightly colored and patterned fabric traditional to Ghana.

With the border open, he said, he "can easily cross now and sell my cloth [in Togo] without facing any challenge."

Since August 2021, residents and traders along the borders have staged protests to demand their reopening, especially after air traffic resumed in August 2020.

Still, the government had been reluctant to allow free movement in and out Ghana through land and sea.

Back to normal?

Health officials, however, say the rate of COVID infections has now significantly dropped, with about 738 active cases recorded as of March 28. In addition, no critical cases have been reported.

In a televised national address on Sunday evening, President Nana Akufo-Addo said now is the time to reopen all land and sea borders for the movement of goods and people. The reopening was part of several sweeping measures to return the country to "normalcy," he said.

According to the president, crossing the border will come with a few protocols in the coming weeks.

He explained that fully vaccinated travelers will be allowed entry through the land and sea borders without a negative PCR test result from the country of origin.

"Citizens and foreign residents in Ghana, who are not fully vaccinated, will have to produce a negative 48-hour PCR test result and be offered vaccination on arrival," he said.

Economic relief for residents

Abla Dzifa Gomashie, a lawmaker whose constituency Ketu South in the Volta Region is close to the border with Togo, told local radio station Starr FM that the news had brought a sigh of relief.

"The closure of the border for the past two years has been the most difficult period in my life in leadership," she said, expressing delight at the "return to normalcy."

Gomashie said residents are excited at the prospect of resuming work.

"Just the desire for the people to earn their own money, I am sure that alone is an injection of energy. They are waiting to fend for themselves so that in itself is good," she told DW.

Development worker Lois Asante Bota, based in the northern city of Tamale, some 180 kilometers (122 miles) from the border with Burkina Faso, told DW that "the reopening of the borders will help boost our economy."

According to the Observatory of Economic Complexity, Ghana exported products worth $254 million (€231 million) to Burkina Faso in 2020. However, Ghana did not export any services to Burkina Faso in the same year.

A local journalist in the Volta region, Faisel Abdul-Iddrisu, who has been monitoring the ongoing activity along the Togolese border, told DW that many residents are now hoping their business activities will get busier in the coming days.

"They [residents] are of the expectation that business activities will pick up in the coming days," he said.

Faulting the government

However, Gomashie said the government could have better handled the border closure to reduce the economic burden on residents.

"If any proper planning was considered, we should have had the necessary protocols specifically crafted for the border communities," she said.

There are reports that those wanting to cross over from Ghana into neighboring countries face hurdles.

"When they [Ghanaians] cross from the Ghana side, the Togo side, the officials there say that their border remains closed," said Abdul-Iddrisu.

Togolese officials are reportedly charging a fee before allowing Ghanaians to cross into the capital, Lome. Despite these fees, travelers have started thronging the borders to cross.

As members of the Economic Community of West African States, Ghana and Togo allow for free movement of their citizens.

Gomashie said Ghana could have avoided these difficulties if the reopening had been appropriately done and well-coordinated among the ECOWAS countries.

"The president did not tell me whether as chairman of ECOWAS, he has told his colleagues, and they are all in agreement, and so now that our [Ghana] side is opened, the other side is also opened," she said.

Health protocols at the border

Ghanaian officials have explained that persons who are not fully vaccinated and do not have a negative PCR test result can't be allowed to cross the borders.

The protocol has led to some people being turned back, but many people are getting their jabs to enable them to pass.

Health worker Tavi is worried about the potential spread of COVID-19 if people are not fully vaccinated.

"I am really concerned because many people are still in doubt of the existence of the virus. And with the border now opened, we have more work to do," Tavi said. Health officials have set up vaccination booths along the border, hoping to get as many people to vaccinate.

Ghana initially targeted vaccinating 20 million people against COVID-19 by the end of March, after missing out on an earlier target of December 2021.

It has now extended that deadline to June, due to what the president said was an insufficient supply of vaccines and, most importantly, vaccine hesitancy among citizens.

So far, the data from the Health Ministry suggest that only 13.1 million Ghanaians out of the estimated 30 million population have received the vaccine.

"To my fellow Ghanaians who have not received the jab, I urge you to take it. It has been a year since my wife and I got vaccinated; it has not disrupted our physical well-being nor caused us to be sick. We are hale and hearty, like the other 13.1 million Ghanaians who have been vaccinated," Akufo-Addo said in his speech.

Tavi hopes people will listen to the president and take the shots to prevent the spread of the virus, while enjoying the movement across the borders.

Need to remain vigilant

Rose Awinpoka, who lives along the northern border, told DW that Ghana must seriously take the health threats of reopening the borders.

"Economic activities will improve, but as the borders are opened, the people are free to move, and we can't just conclude that COVID-19 is over," she said.

She warned of other potential diseases. "There should be measures in place to ensure that no other strange disease enters the country," she added.

During the closure of land and sea borders, cargo traffic was allowed but giving access to people now comes with additional security risks.

"Now that the borders have been opened the inland checkpoints have been closed down," said journalist Abdul-Iddrisu.

He added that the immigration officials from these routes had been withdrawn and would instead support their colleagues to deal with unapproved routes.

But development worker Lois Asante Bota is worried that the opened borders will come with associated threats.

"We fear because of some security threats along our borders, especially the northern part of the country, so the opening of the border has actually exposed us," she said.

Akufo-Addo has assured the country that there will be an increased security presence at the border. "But we still don't know how that is going to happen," Asante Bota said.

Maxwell Suuk contributed to this article

Edited by: Chrispin Mwakideu

This article was corrected on March 29. It originally said Tamale in Ghana was 375 kilometers from Burkina Faso's border. Tamale is actually some 180 kilometers from the border. The name of Faisel Abdul-Iddrisu was also misspelled. DW apologizes for the error.