From left; Prime Minister of Cote d'Ivoire Patrick Achi, President of Togo Faure Gnassingbe, President of Benin Patrice Talon, and President of Ghana Nana Akufo-Addo.
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Prior to the secession of South Sudan, the rural livelihoods of people living in the 11 states were dependent on free trade and movement across the boundaries.
Congolese women at the border crossing with Uganda at Bunagana in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Phil Moore/AFP/GettyImages