Burkina and Ghana are generally fairly safe for foreigners (or were during my time there). Things got troublesome as you headed farther north - we (Peace Corps)

Burkina and Ghana are generally fairly safe for foreigners (or were during my time there). Things got troublesome as you headed farther north - we (Peace Corps) were not allowed to travel in Mali and Niger at some point (though that didn't stop some, haha). Although I do take your point - violence wasn't the only threat on a lot of those "roads".