Ghana and the United States government have signed a deal to improve Ghana’s cyber security, border management and other key security infrastructure in the country.

The $65 million deal – dubbed Security Governance Initiative (SGI) – is an initiative by the US government to assist with efforts to improve security governance and capacity to counter threats in Ghana and five other African countries.

At a brief ceremony to mark the signing of the initiative, Foreign Affairs Minister, Hanna Tetteh, said the initiative will help Ghana and other selected African countries build stronger institutions to counter emerging and existing security threats on the continent.

The other selected African countries are Kenya, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and Tunisia.

The SGI in Ghana will focus on cyber security and cyber crime, maritime security and border management.

Hanna Tetteh said the initiative will “support [Ghana] to build capacity in these areas to be able to deal with the overlap that exists between Ministries, Departments and Agencies in terms of their overlapping mandates.”

Robert Jackson

The US Ambassador to Ghana, Robert Jackson, said following the signing of the deal Thursday, the US government will begin to develop activities to support the development of Ghana’s maritime, border and cyber security.

“We thank the government and people of Ghana for your commitment to partnering with the United States in pursuit of stronger and more accountable security institutions," Robert Jackson said.

Click on this link to access a factsheet on the SGI initiative.

Ghana’s cyber and border security systems are fraught with administrative challenges as well as inadequate logistics and human capacity.

Following recent terrorist attacks in neighboring Burkina Faso Ghana has taken steps to tightened security in the country, particularly at its borders.