African leaders have declared an urgent and united stand against the escalating threat of terrorism and violent extremism in West Africa, warning that the sub-region has effectively become the “global epicentre” of terror attacks, a development they say can no longer be met with fragmented responses.
Speaking at the conclusion of a two-day High-Level Consultative Conference on Regional Cooperation and Security in Accra, Ghana, participants from West African and Sahel states issued a powerful joint communiqué that underscored the gravity of the region’s insecurity and the need for lasting collective solutions.
The conference, held from January 29 to 30, 2026, was chaired by Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama, with delegations led by Presidents Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leone and Joseph Boakai of Liberia. Representatives from Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo also took part.
In a joint statement read at the summit’s close, leaders said West Africa currently experiences an average of eight terror attacks daily, resulting in roughly 44 deaths each day, figures that together account for more than half of all terrorism-related deaths globally. “On a daily basis, at least eight terror attacks are recorded, which claims averagely forty-four lives. More than half of all global terrorism-related deaths are recorded in our region,” the communiqué said.
The leaders emphasised that deep interconnections, through geography, trade routes, shared ecosystems, and cross-border communities, mean that insecurity in one state quickly spills over into others, imposing heavy economic, social, and security costs across the region. “Fragmentation incurs heavy economic, social and security costs that diminish our collective problem-solving capacity,” the communiqué added.
At the heart of the communiqué was a call to move beyond sporadic cooperation to a structured, permanent framework for regional security. Leaders pledged to strengthen regional cooperation to confront evolving peace, security, and governance challenges, agreeing on a range of practical and policy-level steps.
These commitments include: “Enhancing intelligence and information sharing to pre-empt terrorist activity and transnational crime. Also, harmonising legal frameworks to improve cross-border prosecution of terrorism-linked offences, and scaling up deradicalisation programmes while safeguarding human rights.”
It continued, “Exploring “hot pursuit” arrangements, whether bilateral, minilateral, or multilateral, to combat fluid cross-border movement of criminal and extremist elements, and drafting a foundational Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation and security within three months, with finalisation expected within six months, to anchor deeper cooperation.”
Recognising that military measures alone are insufficient, the leaders pledged to prioritise a broader human security agenda, focusing on food security, healthcare, education, job creation and strengthening local governance so that state presence is felt through service delivery as well as security enforcement.
The communiqué also flagged climate change as a threat multiplier that exacerbates insecurity, and called for its integration into regional peace planning alongside a collective framework for disaster preparedness and humanitarian response for populations affected by conflict and environmental shocks.
President Mahama characterised the conference as a defining moment for the region, urging states to renew their commitments to solidarity and shared responsibility. Citing the Accra Initiative, a 2017 effort to counter the southward spread of terrorism, he stressed that while past efforts laid groundwork, evolving threats demand refreshed cooperation underpinned by trust and sustained action.
He said, “May this conference be remembered as a first step and a turning point… reaffirming our collective resolve to act together and to shape a future that is defined by stability, resilience and shared prosperity.”
Echoing this call, other participants underscored the need to translate shared analysis into coordinated action, warning that fragmented and uncoordinated responses are no longer sustainable against increasingly sophisticated terror and criminal networks.
As the summit concluded, leaders agreed to hold the consultative conference biannually and to establish mechanisms to track the implementation of the agreed commitments, reinforcing a collective determination to protect citizens and rebuild stability across West Africa and its neighbouring Sahel states.
