Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Accra, the capital of Ghana, on 2 July 2025. His first foray on Ghanaian soil served to nourish the longstanding friendly ties between India and Ghana. The official visit, lasting two days, is the first by an Indian Prime Minister in 30 years. The last and only other prime ministerial visit to Ghana was by former PM PV Narasimha Rao from 8–9 November 1995.
India-Ghana relations have traditionally been warm and friendly, resting on solid foundations anchored in shared values and a common vision. The strong foundation of the bilateral relations was laid by India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Ghana’s first President, Kwame Nkrumah. The two leaders also enjoyed a close friendship.
India opened its representative office in Accra in 1953, prior to Ghana’s independence, and established full-fledged diplomatic relations with Ghana in 1957, immediately after it attained independence. In keeping with India’s deeply held commitment to anti-colonialism and freedom and liberty in the developing world, India took up the cause of Ghana’s independence from British colonialism in the United Nations much before it won independence in 1957. Both countries have maintained a close relationship in the multilateral fora on various issues that are important for the Global South.
Significance of PM Modi’s visit
The Prime Minister had a hectic programme during the visit. Ghana’s President, HE John Dramani Mahama, demonstrated his goodwill and warmth for India and personally received PM Modi at the airport. In recognition of India’s leadership, PM Modi was conferred with Ghana’s highest civilian award, ‘The Officer of the Order of the Star of Ghana’. The prime minister also addressed Ghana’s parliament, thus underscoring the democratic nature of the polity in both countries.
The visit led to the signing of four MOUs, covering the establishment of a Joint Commission between the two countries, enhancing cultural ties, standard setting and cooperation in Ayurveda, and alternative medicine. The engagement between the leaders brought to the fore other areas for future cooperation, be it the development of Ghana as a vaccine hub (an area of interest to Ghana), fintech, bringing UPI to Ghana, agriculture, skill development, critical minerals, defence and maritime security, and energy. The two countries aim to double bilateral trade in five years. Given the upswing in trade, it would be mutually beneficial to broaden and diversify the base to reach the target highlighted during the visit.
On the political side, the two leaders found much commonality in their approach. The prime minister said that both sides were unanimous that terrorism is the enemy of humanity. It was decided to further strengthen mutual cooperation in countering the menace. “We are unanimous that terrorism is the enemy of humanity. We thank Ghana for its cooperation in our fight against terrorism … we have decided to further strengthen mutual cooperation in counter-terrorism,” said PM Modi.
An oil and natural gas producing country itself, Ghana occupies a strategic location on the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa, surrounded by oil and gas producing countries on either side. This resource-rich country is located in a region that is abundantly blessed with natural resources. Ghana’s democratic polity and peaceful change of political power from one political party to another through democratic elections is widely recognised.
India’s relations with Africa have traditionally focused on eastern and southern Africa due to geographic proximity and historical connect. Though there is enormous goodwill for India in Western Africa, India’s outreach and engagement, in the years past, were much more sporadic. A number of visits from Ghana to India, including at the highest level, and several visits from India, have helped develop a close bond between the two countries.
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The India-Ghana partnership
India and Ghana enjoy abundant commonalities in their worldview. Ghana was one of the founding members of the Non-Aligned Movement and remains a prominent and respected voice from the Global South. Despite being a smaller country in Africa, it was proud to see one of its illustrious sons, Kofi Annan, hold the highly respected position of UN Secretary-General. As the UNSG, Kofi Annan’s efforts, inter alia for promotion of development in the countries of the Global South, and protection of the environment and conflict resolution, are well regarded.
Currently, Ghana’s former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Shirley Botchwey, is Secretary General of the Commonwealth. Ghana has played an active role in African political challenges, starting from the time of its first President, Kwame Nkrumah, and especially during Ghana’s leadership of the African Union and ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States.
President Mahama is no stranger to India. He visited India for the India-Africa Forum Summit in 2015 and earlier as vice president and former president. He and PM Modi have met on various occasions in the past. He assumed office as President of Ghana in January this year, which provides the two leaders ample time to take forward the vision outlined during the visit.
Bilateral trade between India and Ghana is about $3 billion, which is in favour of Ghana because of the large imports of gold by India. The robust and expanding trade relationship can only benefit from the focused attention that the visit brings. Indian investments in Ghana are over $2 billion. Indian companies have invested in 818 projects worth $ 1.92 billion between 1994-2024. India is among the top investors in Ghana – ranking second in terms of number of projects (11) and fifth in terms of FDI value ($ 16.08 million) during January–September 2024, contributing to 4.77 per cent of Ghana’s total FDI. Investments span sectors such as manufacturing, services, general trading, export trade, agriculture, building and construction, tourism, and liaison. The High Commission of India in Accra launched the India-Business Forum (IBF) on 23 November 2020 to facilitate business-to-business engagement.
India has supported Ghana’s development efforts through concessional lines of credit (LoC) and grants. About $450 million of LoC and grants to Ghana were extended for projects including the Rural Electrification Project (2003), India-Ghana Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence for ICT (2003); Jubilee House Presidential Complex (2008); Komenda Sugar Plant (2016), and Elmina Fish Processing Plant (2016). Infrastructure projects have also been undertaken under Buyer’s Credit from India. Ghana benefited from Indian vaccines, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. ITEC and ICCR scholarships given by India have contributed to Ghana’s capacity-building efforts. A 15,000-strong vibrant Indian diaspora acts as an important bridge between the two countries. Several prominent Indian diaspora-owned businesses contribute to the Ghanaian economy.
The much-awaited visit of PM Modi to Ghana was marked by mutual respect and understanding and will give a decided fillip to bilateral ties between India and close friend Ghana.
Ruchi Ghanashyam is a retired diplomat who served as India’s High Commissioner to Ghana. Views are personal.