BY GIDEON ASARE SACKITEY

Last week, the President of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI), Mr Stephane Miezan, paid a courtesy call on his Burkinabè counterpart, Mr Roland Achille Sow, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Burkina Faso (CCIBF), in Ouagadougou.

The visit also allowed Mr Miezan to officially invite Mr Sow to the FEWACCI Forum in Accra this December, and to seek CCIBF’s endorsement for Ghana’s bid to lead the Federation of African Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FACCI).

To me this meeting was more than a ceremonial exchange of goodwill. It marked the renewal of a long-standing bond grounded in the Ghana–Burkina Faso Permanent Joint Cooperation Commission (PJCC), a framework that has, over the years, guided economic, political, and security collaboration between the two nations.

With trade and industrial cooperation now taking centre stage in both countries’ development strategies, the discussions between Mr Miezan and Mr Sow pointed to a clear goal: to transform this government-to-government partnership into a strong, private-sector–driven industrial alliance that leverages shared opportunities under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

From Policy to Private Sector Action

The PJCC already provides an institutional foundation for cooperation in trade, energy, transport, agriculture, and security. What’s emerging from the chambers’ engagement is an effort to translate these policy-level commitments into tangible business and industrial outcomes.

By exploring the establishment of a Ghana–Burkina Chamber of Industries, the GNCCI and CCI-BF are signalling a shift from bilateral diplomacy to private-sector-led regional industrialisation—a move that could clearly redefine cross-border commerce within West Africa.

This convergence of institutional, industrial, and regional collaboration underscores the growing importance of aligning national chambers under the broader PJCC and ECOWAS integration agenda.

Specifically, for many such deep and close convergences or collaborations, it is long overdue. What is holding it back is not far-fetched: the ability of public officers on both sides to see cooperation as a shared future capable of transforming the lives of ordinary citizens, the inability of successive governments to pursue the joint permanent agreements, external influences beyond the two countries, and, of course, language.

But the truth is that all this can be overcome if citizens of Ghana and Burkina Faso rally around such collaborations that join the hands of medium and small enterprises to not just discover shared interests but to derive profits from each other’s inherent potential.

Shared Vision

The potential for synergy between Ghana and Burkina Faso is vast. Ghana, with its established industrial base, seaports, and manufacturing expertise, complements Burkina Faso’s abundant agricultural raw materials and growing demand for processed goods.

A structured industrial partnership can:

• Support SME capacity and innovation—creating cross-border enterprise development programmes to enhance competitiveness under AfCFTA.
• Boost agro-processing and value addition by linking Burkina Faso’s raw materials with Ghana’s manufacturing capabilities for higher-value exports in groundnuts, shea, cashew, cotton, and cereals.
• Strengthen logistics and transport connectivity, enhancing the Tema-Ouagadougou trade corridor through coordinated policy advocacy for improved border infrastructure and customs harmonisation.
• Promote energy and renewable investments through leveraging Ghana’s energy expertise to support Burkina Faso’s industrial zones with sustainable power solutions within the framework of the PJCC framework.

This new industrial partnership would not require reinventing the wheel. It would instead anchor private sector initiatives within existing bilateral and regional agreements, ensuring continuity, legal certainty, and stronger institutional backing.

The Way Forward

To make this collaboration functional, one will require pragmatic regulatory alignment and institutional coordination that integrates into the PJCC Agenda. It should also seek full recognition under the Ghana-Burkina PJCC framework, enabling the proposed chamber to operate as the private-sector implementation arm for industrial cooperation.

The proposed chamber must align directly with Africa’s push for regional industrial clusters and intra-African trade expansion. Under AfCFTA, Ghana and Burkina Faso can jointly target regional value chains in food processing, textiles, construction materials, and light manufacturing—sectors where both nations hold comparative advantages.

It also opens new opportunities for investment attraction, as development partners increasingly prioritise cross-border industrial projects that align with Africa’s integration agenda.

With proper coordination, the Ghana–Burkina partnership could evolve into a regional model showing how neighbouring countries can pool industrial strengths, share infrastructure, and attract financing for joint ventures.

Partnership and Vision

For decades, the Ghana–Burkina PJCC has symbolised cooperation rooted in mutual respect and shared development objectives. The current move by the two national chambers represents the private sector’s commitment to actualise that vision, translating diplomatic frameworks into enterprise, innovation, and inclusive growth.

As they advance discussions toward formalising this industrial collaboration, the message is clear: sustainable development in West Africa will come from partnership, not isolation.

A Ghana–Burkina Chamber of Industries, aligned with the Permanent Joint Cooperation framework, could unlock new trade corridors, deepen industrial value chains, and make the two nations a central hub for cross-border production within ECOWAS and AfCFTA, notwithstanding the English/French dichotomy.

In many ways, this initiative captures the spirit of a new era—one in which policy frameworks meet private action, and where shared vision drives shared prosperity across the West African sub-region.

The writer is a Strategic Communications Expert & SME Policy Analyst

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