Cote d’Ivoire and Mali are planning to draw up a roadmap to revitalize cross-border cooperation activities, reports said on Monday.
In this regard, the Joint Commission for the materialization of the Mali-Cote d’Ivoire border held its first meeting on 24, 25 and 26 August 2021, in the conference room of the Grand Hotel in Bamako.
The Ivorian delegation was led by Mr. Diakalidia Konate, Executive Secretary of the National Borders Commission of Côte d’Ivoire, while the Malian delegation was headed by Mr. Abdallah Faskoye, Technical Advisor in charge of border issues at the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization (MATD).
The overall objective of this meeting was to launch the process of materialization/demarcation of the common border and to promote cross-border cooperation between the two countries.
It also aimed to draw up a timetable for the delimitation/demarcation activities of the border between the two countries, and to proceed with the bilateral validation of the draft Mali-Cote d’Ivoire cross-border cooperation framework agreement.
In their respective speeches, the two heads of delegation hailed the holding of the meeting, which reflects the desire of the two Heads of State to meet the challenge of stability in the two countries.
The border line between Cote d’Ivoire and Mali is about 532 km long. The objective of both parties is to transform the cross-border areas into spaces of well-being, cohabitation and perfect understanding.
A Framework Agreement for the materialization of common borders was signed in July 1999 in Bamako. The session should enable new milestones to be reached in the demarcation of borders and the development of border areas through cross-border cooperation.
At the end of the session, the two delegations made recommendations, in particular a broad sensitization of the authorities, the actors/partners and the border populations throughout the process of materializing the border line.
The parties agreed to respect the common timetable proposed in the evaluation of the budget for the delimitation/demarcation campaigns, and the mobilization of resources by the Commission from the States and technical financial partners for the timely completion of the project.
The members of the Joint Commission for the materialization of the Cote d’Ivoire-Mali border also met with Mali’s Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralization, Dr. Abdoulaye Maiga, which is a token of Bamako’s commitment to this delineation project.
AP/ls/fss/abj/APA