On 20 February 2026, Ghana, in a press launch, formally notified the Authorities of Togo of its resolution to submit their unresolved maritime boundary dispute to arbitration underneath the 1982 United Nations Conference on the Legislation of the Sea (henceforth: 1982 LOSC). After the lapse of just about a decade throughout which negotiations, joint technical committees and high-level political consultations occurred, Accra concluded that diplomatic efforts had reached an deadlock. In an announcement issued by the Presidency, spokesperson Felix Kwakye Ofosu defined that arbitration was essential “to keep away from an escalation of incidents which have created tensions between a few of our establishments and to advertise an amicable decision”.
The response from Togo adopted 5 days later. In a press launch dated 25 February 2026, the Togolese Authorities acknowledged receipt of Ghana’s notification and recognised the existence of a disagreement concerning the delimitation of the frequent maritime boundary. It recalled that a number of maritime incidents between November 2016 and Might 2018 within the undelimited maritime space had underscored the necessity for delimitation. Whereas observing that Ghana’s recourse to arbitration signalled a departure from the framework of ongoing bilateral negotiations, the Togolese Authorities took observe of the choice and reaffirmed its dedication to the peaceable settlement of disputes, good neighbourliness and fraternal cooperation in accordance with worldwide legislation and the rules of justice and fairness embodied within the 1982 LOSC.
This isn’t Ghana’s first recourse to obligatory worldwide adjudication within the Gulf of Guinea. On 03 December 2014, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire agreed to submit their maritime boundary dispute to a Particular Chamber of the Worldwide Tribunal for the Legislation of the Sea (henceforth: ITLOS), culminating within the 2017 judgment that delimited their maritime boundary. The current step thus displays a continuity in Ghana’s choice for third-party dispute decision underneath Half XV of the 1982 LOSC.
This observe locations Ghana’s resolution inside the broader framework of worldwide legislation of the ocean and African maritime governance. It outlines the historic and authorized background, identifies the related procedural framework and considers the attainable trajectories of the case.
Background to the Case
Ghana and Togo share each land and maritime boundaries. The land boundary will be traced again to Anglo-German colonial preparations of the late nineteenth century, subsequently adjusted underneath Franco-British agreements after the First World Struggle and confirmed underneath League of Nations mandates. Upon attaining independence – Ghana in 1957 and Togo in 1960 – each states affirmed their dedication to the precept of uti possidetis juris, thereby accepting the inviolability of inherited colonial boundaries as a foundational norm of inter-state relations. Concurrently, they endorsed the precept of peaceable settlement of disputes, together with, inter alia, arbitration, as articulated in Article III (3)-(4) of the Constitution of the Group of African Unity (henceforth: OAU). The OAU’s 1964 Cairo Decision affirmed the inviolability of inherited colonial borders to forestall destabilising territorial revisionism. The successor African Union (henceforth: AU) reaffirmed this twin dedication in its Article 4 (b) and (e) of the 2000 Constitutive Act. The African Union Border Programme (henceforth: AUBP), established in 2007, particularly endorsed these aims. In its Declaration on the African Union Border Programme, Article 5 (a) urges Member States to delimit and demarcate their boundaries peacefully, primarily by way of negotiation and different consensual means. A notable instance is that this regard is the 2009 Accra Pan-African Convention on Maritime Boundaries and the Continental Shelf for the Implementation of the African Union Border Programme. Vital work has since been undertaken by way of reviews, technical help and direct involvement in boundary processes, together with publications such because the “African Border Dispute Settlement: The Consumer’s Information” (2016). Regardless of important efforts to advance peaceable delimitation, maritime boundaries round Africa stay solely partially resolved and a considerable quantity proceed to be undelimited or disputed.
The current dispute constitutes one such instance of the broader sample of incomplete maritime delimitation. The quick origins of the Ghana-Togo dispute lie in Togo’s reported rejection in 2016 of what Ghana considers a long-standing customary maritime alignment extending the land boundary seaward alongside an equidistance trajectory. Togo superior another orientation that shifted the road, thereby creating an space of overlapping claims affecting the extension of Ghana’s offshore area, together with components of the suspected resource-rich Keta Basin. Tensions additional intensified in late 2017-early 2018 when Togolese authorities reportedly intervened to halt Ghanaian seismic survey vessels working in maritime areas topic to overlapping claims by each states.
In response, the 2 States established a Joint Maritime Boundary Technical Committee composed of hydrographers, authorized specialists and diplomats. Negotiations alternated between Accra and Lomé and have been twice elevated to presidential degree, involving former President Nana Akufo-Addo and President Faure Gnassingbé. In 2018, each side publicly dedicated to pursuing a maritime boundary treaty and agreed on provisional preparations pending closing delimitation, in line with Articles 74 (3) and 83 (3) of the 1982 LOSC. Discussions reportedly superior considerably in 2021, when a delimitation settlement appeared imminent. However, no closing settlement materialised.
The Authorized Framework
Each Ghana and Togo are events to the 1982 LOSC, with Ghana ratifying in 1983 and Togo in 1985, which supplies the substantive and procedural framework for maritime delimitation and dispute settlement. Articles 74 and 83 require States with adjoining coasts to realize delimitation by settlement so as to attain an equitable answer. Pending settlement, they have to make each effort to not jeopardise or hamper the conclusion of a closing association. This strategy has been confirmed in earlier case legislation involving Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire earlier than ITLOS (paras. 629-630).
The procedural framework is ruled primarily by Half XV of the 1982 LOSC. Article 279 reaffirms the duty to settle disputes by peaceable means, whereas Article 287 (2) permits States to decide on amongst 4 procedures: ITLOS, the Worldwide Courtroom of Justice, arbitration underneath Annex VII and particular arbitration underneath Annex VIII. Within the absence of matching declarations, Annex VII arbitration applies by default (Article 287 (3)). Article 298 permits states to exclude sure classes of disputes, together with maritime delimitation, from obligatory procedures. Ghana withdrew its Article 298 declaration on 22 September 2014, thereby accepting obligatory procedures entailing binding selections for maritime delimitation disputes. This improvement is in line with Ghana’s prior posture in favour of judicial settlement, as mirrored in its resolution to resolve its maritime dispute with Côte d’Ivoire by way of adjudication. It additionally aligns with different African observe that had recourse to arbitration such because the 1985 Case regarding the Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary between Guinea and Guinea-Bissau. Togo, against this, entered an Article 298 declaration on 12 April 2019 excluding disputes during which the United Nations (henceforth: UN) Safety Council is exercising its features and army actions.
On the home degree, Togo’s 1977 Ordinance No. 24 delimiting the Territorial Waters and Making a Protected Financial Maritime Zone established territorial waters and a protected financial maritime zone (Articles 1 and a pair of). This was later up to date by 2016 Act No. 2016-007 regarding Maritime Areas underneath Nationwide Jurisdiction which explicitly incorporates 1982 UNCLOS precepts and defines the breadth of Togo’s Territorial Sea (henceforth: TS), Contiguous Zone (henceforth: CZ), Unique Financial Zone (henceforth: EEZ) (Articles 2-3 and 5). Apparently, Article 7 of the identical instrument supplies that the delimitation of maritime boundaries is to be carried out in accordance with Articles 15, 74 and 83 of the 1982 LOSC. On 07 October 2020, Togo deposited with the UN lists of geographical coordinates for its baselines and outer limits pursuant to Articles 16 (2) and 75 (2) of the 1982 LOSC. It’s also price noting that, in September 2018, a Joint Submission was ready by the Republic of Benin and the Togolese Republic regarding the delineation of the Continental Shelf (henceforth: CS) past 200 nautical miles. Initially established in 2014 pursuant to particular laws, the Maritime Borders Fee of Togo underwent institutional restructuring in 2025, leading to its integration right into a unified framework mandated to handle each land and maritime boundary disputes.
On the Ghanaian aspect, the nation’s Maritime Zones (Delimitation) Legislation (1986) defines the TS, CZ, EEZ and CS (Articles 1, 4-6). In 2010, the nation enacted laws establishing the Ghana Boundary Fee, with the goal, inter alia, of delimiting the State’s land and maritime boundaries (Article 2 (a)). On 09 July 2018, Ghana deposited with the UN coordinates regarding its maritime boundary with Côte d’Ivoire following the ITLOS 2017 judgment. Moreover, Article 257 (6) of the 1992 Structure supplies that “[e]very mineral in its pure state” is the property of the Republic of Ghana. This constitutional vesting of possession extends past the terrestrial area to embody mineral assets situated inside Ghana’s EEZ and CS, thereby affirming the State’s sovereign rights over pure assets located each on land and inside its maritime jurisdiction.
What’s Subsequent?
With proceedings at an incipient stage, a number of eventualities stay conceivable. In its press launch of 25 February 2026, Togo took observe of Ghana’s notification and, somewhat than rejecting the initiative, reaffirmed its dedication to the peaceable settlement of disputes, good neighbourliness and fraternal cooperation in accordance with worldwide legislation and the rules of justice and fairness enshrined within the 1982 LOSC. Though Togo noticed that recourse to arbitration signalled a departure from the framework of ongoing bilateral negotiations, its assertion didn’t contest the lawfulness of the process. Quite the opposite, it underscored adherence to the Conference and the shared authorized devices binding upon each States.
On this mild, it’s possible that Togo will take part within the Annex VII arbitration, both with out reservation or whereas elevating preliminary objections referring to jurisdiction or admissibility. Any such objections would have to be assessed towards the scope of Togo’s Article 298 declaration, which excludes disputes involving Safety Council features and army actions, however doesn’t exclude maritime delimitation per se. Furthermore, Article 7 of Togo’s 2016 laws expressly supplies that delimitation shall be effected in accordance with Articles 15, 74 and 83 of the 1982 LOSC, a provision that will reinforce the tribunal’s jurisdictional basis.
Arbitration doesn’t preclude the continuation of negotiations. As emphasised by ITLOS within the Ghana/Côte d’Ivoire judgment (paras. 629-630), provisional preparations stay accessible pending closing delimitation. Arbitration might, on this respect, function not merely as an adjudicatory mechanism but in addition as a catalyst for renewed diplomatic engagement, doubtlessly encouraging compromise and even the institution of a joint improvement settlement in areas of overlapping claims. Joint improvement zones have precedent inside the area, together with preparations between São Tomé and Príncipe and Nigeria. Such mechanisms allow exploration and exploitation of assets with out prejudice to the events’ respective authorized positions, in conformity with Articles 74 (3) and 83 (3) of the 1982 LOSC.
At a systemic degree, the current episode underscores the centrality of Half XV of the 1982 LOSC in structuring maritime governance in West Africa. It displays a broader regional shift towards formalised delimitation and reliance on binding authorized mechanisms somewhat than indefinite negotiation. Whereas arbitration guarantees authorized readability and finality, it concurrently checks the political resilience of the events. The sturdiness and effectiveness of any course of will finally rely upon sustained good religion and engagement. Whether or not this will likely be achieved within the current case stays to be seen.
![Series of Competitions by The University Debating and Literary Club at Aligarh Muslim University [5 Competitions]: Submit by March 10!](https://i0.wp.com/cdn.lawctopus.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/amu.png?w=120&resize=120,86&ssl=1)
