Private legal practitioner Ace Anan Ankomah has challenged African governments to dismantle rather than police the continent’s borders, citing his personal experience of requiring approximately eight different documents to drive from Accra to Lomé, a journey of barely three hours, despite a 50 year old protocol guaranteeing free movement within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Speaking at the closing ceremony of the 2026 Africa Prosperity Dialogues held on Thursday, February 6, 2026, at the Accra International Conference Centre, Ankomah argued that Africa’s fragmented borders continue to undermine economic integration, despite the continent’s abundant natural resources and market potential.
To drive from Accra to Lomé, I need about eight different documents: passport, domestic driver’s license, international driving permit, local insurance and cross border cover, a health card, vehicle registration, and even a temporary import permit. Miss just one, and the journey becomes probably faster, on the strength of other papers, this time from your wallet, Ankomah stated. You go through this at the two sides of the border, and all over again on your return, he added.
He described Africa’s current approach to border control as paradoxical, noting that while African countries impose strict barriers on one another, external actors often gain easy access to extract the continent’s wealth. This is not sovereignty. It is fragmentation masquerading as independence, he stated.
Tracing the roots of Africa’s divisions to the 1884 to 1885 Berlin Conference, Ankomah, who is Senior Partner at Bentsi Enchill, Letsa & Ankomah law firm, said colonial era boundaries had left behind small, disconnected economies, divided markets, and persistent insecurity, even as Africa remained rich in natural resources.
Africa was not invited. Africa was not consulted. Africa was not represented. Africa was on the menu, he declared. Decades after independence, he said, the legacy of those artificial borders continues to manifest in poverty, conflict, and underdevelopment, despite repeated commitments to regional integration.
Ankomah described these barriers as inconsistent with the ECOWAS Protocol on Free Movement of Persons, Residence and Establishment, which has been in existence for more than 50 years. These barriers exist even though we have already agreed to free movement, he noted, arguing that the persistence of such obstacles reflects weak political will rather than legal constraints.
Ankomah therefore called for decisive action to remove artificial borders and administrative barriers, saying Africa’s prosperity depended on seamless movement of people, goods, and capital across the continent. Let us tear down these borders, boundaries, and barriers to unlock Africa’s prosperity, he stated.
Beyond border reforms, Ankomah urged African leaders to pursue a development model anchored in self reliance, industrialization, and the effective use of local capabilities. He called for a shift from superstition to science, and from raw material exports to value added production that creates jobs and wealth within Africa.
We do not need to be at someone else’s table. We do not need to be on someone else’s menu. We can and must build our own table. We can and must write our own menu, he stated.
Ankomah warned that Africa risked missing the Fourth Industrial Revolution driven by artificial intelligence, robotics, and advanced manufacturing while the Fifth Industrial Revolution, focused on sustainability and human centered innovation, was already emerging.
Africa might have missed the first three industrial revolutions. But now we stand at a dangerous crossroads, in real danger of missing the Fourth Industrial Revolution as the Fifth Industrial Revolution is already approaching, Ankomah stated.
He expressed optimism, however, that technology offered Africa a chance to leapfrog historical delays if countries embraced homegrown solutions rather than adopting ideas designed for different contexts.
He noted that many practical solutions to Africa’s development challenges already existed within universities, developed by young innovators but left unused in academic archives. I believe that the solutions to most of our science, technology, and engineering problems already exist, generated and germinated by our brilliant students, but buried in university archives in theses and research projects that identified real challenges and proposed workable answers, he stated.
To change this, Ankomah called on governments to establish structured innovation incubators across tertiary institutions to connect research with industry, capital, and policy support. African governments must act as facilitators, he said, urging authorities to protect intellectual property, patent inventions, and transform research outputs into viable enterprises.
Governments must act as facilitators, creating incubators on every campus, linking students, industry, capital, and policy. Protect intellectual property, patent innovations, turn research into enterprise, and make science and engineering attractive, respected, and rewarded, he stated.
With a population of about 1.6 billion, he said Africa could no longer afford delayed action, stressing the urgency of implementing locally generated solutions to end poverty on the continent. It must never be said that every major civilisation conquered poverty, except Africa, he added.
The 2026 Africa Prosperity Dialogues was held from February 4 to 6, 2026, under the theme Empowering SMEs, Women & Youth in Africa’s Single Market: Innovate. Collaborate. Trade. The event was organized by the Africa Prosperity Network and brought together policymakers, business leaders, development partners, and civil society to advance practical solutions for intra African trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The AfCFTA, which became operational in January 2021, aims to create a single continental market for goods and services with free movement of business persons and investments. The agreement covers 54 of the 55 African Union member states, representing a combined gross domestic product of more than $3.4 trillion and a market of approximately 1.3 billion people.
However, implementation has been slow, with intra African trade accounting for only about 15 percent of total African trade, compared to 59 percent in Asia and 69 percent in Europe, according to data from the African Export Import Bank (Afreximbank). Trade experts attribute the low figures to non tariff barriers, weak infrastructure, and limited productive capacity across many African countries.
