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At the opening of the 3rd Abidjan Border Forum in Abidjan,  Côte d’Ivoire, H.E. Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission, called for African borders to become gateways to cooperation, peace, security & shared prosperity. He commended H.E. Alassane Ouattara, President of Côte d’Ivoire & Champion of Agenda 2063, for his steadfast commitment to Africa’s continental development agenda, & thanked the Ivorian authorities for their hospitality. Addressing the Forum’s theme, “People at the Borders: Culture, Security and Integration,” the Chairperson @ymahmoudali underscored the compatibility of national sovereignty with deeper cultural, economic and commercial integration. He stressed that communities sharing languages, traditions & cultural heritage across borders are valuable assets for advancing #Agenda2063 and the African Continental Free Trade Area (@AfCFTA). He called for the development of cross-border corridors, modernisation of border posts, simplified procedures and coordinated border management to facilitate the movement of people and goods. Recognising that border areas are also vulnerable to terrorism, illicit trafficking and organised crime, he emphasised the need for stronger cooperation among neighbouring States. The Chairperson urged AU Member States to ratify the 2014 Niamey Convention on Cross-Border Cooperation and the 2018 Protocol on Free Movement of Persons, the Right of Residence and the Right of Establishment. He reaffirmed that building a peaceful, integrated and prosperous Africa depends on effective, people-centred border governance that transforms borders from lines of separation into bridges of cooperation and shared development. Read @ au.int/en/pressreleases/20261020/auc-chair...