Following Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama’s diplomatic tour of the countries of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) in March 2025, Burkina Faso and Ghana have taken a major step forward in cross-border trade with the signing of a new memorandum of understanding aimed at streamlining transit along the Ouagadougou-Accra corridor. The agreement was formalised between the Burkina Faso Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the State Insurance Company of Ghana (SIC) on 7 May 2025, marking a crucial step towards strengthening economic cooperation between the two countries.
This new agreement, designed to rationalise transit along the Ouagadougou-Accra corridor, builds on the initial 2018 partnership between Ghana and Burkina Faso, reinforcing a fraternal and cooperative relationship while adapting to the current geopolitical landscape. On 8 March 2025, John Dramani embarked on a tour of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso to try to convince them to re-engage with the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), which they left at the end of January 2025.
“The agreement we have signed with SIC is that SIC, which is based in Ghana, has been designated as the national guarantor responsible by the Ghanaian state for collecting the money, and the Chamber of Commerce, which is entitled to part of this guarantee, signs an agreement with SIC authorising it to collect the money on its behalf, even if it means that they establish a revenue-sharing key that allows each party to meet its obligations in the event of difficulties.”
Seydou TOU, Director general of the CCI-BF – Burkina Faso
According to notes on foreign trade statistics for the 3rd quarter of 2024, published by the Institut National de la Statistique et de la Démographie, INSD, Burkina Faso’s exports to Ghana, the main destination for Burkina Faso’s goods to non-WAEMU ECOWAS countries, amounted to CFAF 7.7 billion. This makes Ghana Burkina Faso’s 4th largest supplier after China, Côte d’Ivoire and Russia. In 2024, imports from Ghana accounted for 8.1% of the total volume of goods.
«This signing is a continuation of the exchanges that are already taking place at the highest level of our States. This is a relationship of brotherhood between States that we are transposing to the SIC and the Chamber of Commerce. As a national guarantor, we are truly satisfied with the progress made so far, and I can say on behalf of the delegation accompanying me that it has been a long process, from the amendment and evaluation work to the signing of this agreement. We have done our duty.»
James BOATENG, Director general of the State insurance company, SIC – Ghana
The transit facilitation agreement on the Accra-Ouaga corridor will strengthen the cooperative relationship between the Republic of Ghana and Burkina Faso, which took a major step forward with Burkina’s April 2025 takeover of the Tema Multi Purpose Terminal hydrocarbon depot in Ghana.
