Ghana, along with other Gulf of states Benin, Togo and Ivory Coast, was fast becoming the new frontline in the Sahel jihadist war ravaging their northern neighbor.
So far Ghana has escaped a direct attack, but it is already tackling the economic and social fallout from the conflict to its north.
Like its neighbors, Ghana struggles with porous borders, a weaker state presence in the north, chronic smuggling and intercommunal tensions that can be a breeding ground for jihadism, say local leaders, officials and experts.
Ghana's national security minister Albert Kan Dappah told a summit in December the spread was expected.
In northern Ghana's border area of Bawku, residents are fearful. With easy access to Burkina, Mali, Togo and Niger nearby, they say their frontier is exposed.
Bawku is a trading hub for agricultural produce and livestock with Burkinabe towns like Bittou, just a 45-minute drive away and the site of a December attack which killed six people.
Violence has already curtailed cross-border commerce, said Bawku municipal chief Amadu Hamza.
"Only a few risk their lives to go," he told AFP.
Ghana's government heeded the threat early, experts and officials say, opting for a comprehensive strategy of beefed-up military presence and community outreach to ease tensions and support local populations.
A French troop withdrawal from Mali in the face of mounting hostility and disputes with the ruling junta has refocused Western partners to aid Gulf of Guinea nations battle the war's southward spillover.
Ghana's national security minister Albert Kan Dappah told a summit in December the spread was expected.
Military operations in the Sahel had prompted the Al-Qaeda-linked Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM) and Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) to shift south.
Despite avoiding an attack so far, Ghana's northern region of Bawku also has its own internal dispute some fear will distract from border security.
Heavy police and military presence around the town attest to tensions between ethnic Kusasi and Mamprusi over the right to chose a new chieftain.
Speaking to AFP from his palace, traditional ruler Bawku Naba Asigri Abugrago Azoka II said the local dispute is unlikely to benefit jihadists trying to gain leverage.
He said he had not heard of young men from his jurisdiction joining jihadists. But he said his community was in contact with chiefs across the border to share intelligence.
"If fire is burning someone close to your beard, you should dose your own beard with water because you never know when it will reach you," he said using a local saying.
Local Ghana community leader Abdullah Zakaria said the Ghanaian army is nearby and locals are constantly in touch if they see anyone suspicious. But worry grows in border settlements.
"We are fearful they are going to come over here," he said. "This is going to get worst. This is not going to stop."