Ghana accepts West African deportees from US month after Nigeria rejected deal

Ghana has agreed to receive West Africans deported from the United States, President John Mahama announced on Wednesday.

Speaking to journalists, Mahama explained that the arrangement was made under an existing regional agreement that permits visa-free movement among West African nations.

“We were approached by the US to accept third-party nationals who were being removed from the US. And we agreed with them that West African nationals were acceptable,” Mahama said.

According to him, the “first batch” of 14 deportees has already landed in Ghana, including several Nigerians and one Gambian. He did not, however, disclose how many more people the country has committed to take in.

The decision comes against the backdrop of the President Donald Trump administration’s strategy of sending undocumented immigrants to third countries—even to places where deportees may have never resided. Washington has pursued similar arrangements with Rwanda, Eswatini, and South Sudan in recent months.

This latest deal with Ghana coincides with mounting trade tensions, including increased tariffs on Ghanaian exports and visa restrictions affecting Ghanaian nationals. Despite this, Mahama insisted ties between Accra and Washington remain positive, even as relations are “tightening.”

Nigeria, Ghana’s neighbour, has resisted pressure from Washington to host deportees. In July, Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar told Channels Television: “The US is mounting considerable pressure on African countries to accept Venezuelans to be deported from the US, some straight out of prisons. It will be difficult for Nigeria to accept Venezuelan prisoners,” he said, suggesting recent tariff threats were tied to the deportation issue.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has carried out hundreds of removals to countries like Panama and El Salvador, where some deportees have been imprisoned in the controversial Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT).

(DW)