Informal Trade Routes and Security along the Aflao-Lomé Border Region (Ghana-Togo)

The Aflao-Lomé border is one of the busiest borders in West Africa. This border serves as a passage for both human and goods traffic. More important is the role of the border in facilitating trade between Ghana and Togo. However, due to high cost of customs duties, immigration policies, and other bureaucratic bottlenecks, traders explore marginal and peripheral routes to transact business and other activities. These routes, referred to as ‘beats’ are footpaths that link Ghana and Togo within the Aflao-Lomé border region. On daily basis, they experience high traffic from traders and immigrants. Using the qualitative approach, this paper investigates these trade routes and their security implications on the border region. First, the paper looks at the ethnography of the Aflao-Lomé border region and the history of the beats. The paper also explores the factors that underpin the use of these trade routes in the region. At the heart of the paper lies how the beats facilitate trading activities between Ghana and Togo and the security implications of the use of these routes. The paper argues that the beats play crucial roles in promoting trade in the border region but pose great security challenges to residents of the region.