Ivory Coast PM calls for development of border regions

Ivory Coast’s Prime Minister Robert Beugré Mambé called on Tuesday 20 October 2026 for stronger cross-border cooperation to make African borders spaces for exchanges, security and shared development. He was speaking at the opening of the third edition of the Abidjan Border Forum at the Port-Bouët Exhibition Centre, according to the Ivorian Press Agency (AIP).

Held under the theme ‘People at the borders: culture, integration and security’, the meeting runs from 20 to 22 October. Robert Beugré Mambé said lasting security also depends on the support of local populations and improved living conditions. He recalled the adoption, on 12 June 2024, of the National Policy on Integrated Border Management, as well as the activities of the Government’s Social Programme and integration projects for young people in the northern border regions.

The forum’s general commissioner, Diakalidia Konaté, executive secretary of Ivory Coast’s National Borders Commission, called for a balance between state sovereignty and the free movement of people and goods. For the African Union Commission, deputy general commissioner Cheick Dembélé reaffirmed the organisation’s support for member states in delimiting, demarcating and managing borders inclusively. Switzerland’s ambassador to Ivory Coast, Dominique Favre, announced that Swiss support would continue and that the third phase of a border management project in the country would be financed.