ECOWAS officials have completed a five-day inspection of two of Togo’s busiest land crossings, checking whether the bloc’s free movement rules are applied at the frontier with Benin and Ghana.
The fact-finding mission ran from 21 to 25 September 2026 and was led by H.E. Ms Deweh Emily Gray, the ECOWAS Resident Representative in Togo, according to a report from the Economic Community of West African States.
It brought together members of the ECOWAS Permanent Representation in Togo and representatives of the relevant national authorities.
The delegation visited the border posts at Tohoun and Kémérida on the Togo–Benin route, and Natchamba and Noépé-Akanu on the Togo–Ghana route.
At each stop, the team held discussions with border service managers and staff, as well as with travellers, hauliers, traders and other users of the crossings.
The checks covered travel documents and formalities, the movement of goods, the implementation of the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (SLEC), cross-border transport, health requirements, processing times and checkpoints, and the use of the ECOWAS Brown Card.
ECOWAS said the mission was aimed at assessing the practical conditions under which Community legislation is implemented, identifying the difficulties encountered by border services and users, and identifying ways of improving cross-border mobility.
The approach combined direct observation, discussions with the relevant authorities and feedback from users, which ECOWAS said enabled the collection of information on current practices, the constraints encountered and opportunities for improvement.
The data collected will be subject to a consolidated analysis in order to identify the main difficulties, highlight the good practices observed and formulate operational recommendations.
ECOWAS said the mission reaffirmed the Permanent Representation’s commitment to supporting the effective implementation of Community legislation and to contributing, in collaboration with the national authorities and relevant stakeholders, to improving the conditions for the movement of people and goods within the Community area.
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