By: Chidozie Nwali
President John Dramani Mahama of Ghana has agreed to accept West African nationals deported from the United States, citing a regional agreement that allows for visa-free travel among member states. The president, speaking at a news conference on Wednesday, confirmed that a first group of deportees has already arrived in the country.
This decision comes amid a broader U.S. crackdown on undocumented immigrants and efforts by the Trump administration to secure commitments from various countries to accept deportees, including third-country nationals.
While Ghana has a history of cooperating with the U.S. on the return of its own citizens, this agreement marks a new phase in which the country is acting as a receiving point for nationals from other West African countries.
“We were approached by the U.S. to accept third-party nationals and we agreed with them that West African nationals were acceptable because all our fellow West Africans don’t need a visa to come to our country,” president mahama said at the press conference.
President Mahama justified the move by highlighting the visa-free travel protocol within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), stating that these individuals “don’t need a visa anyway to come to our country.”
The move also comes at a time when relations between Accra and Washington have been described by Mahama as “tightening,” with recent U.S. actions including hiked tariffs on Ghanaian goods and restricted visas for its nationals.
While the agreement is being presented as a matter of regional cooperation, it could spark debate over the responsibilities of host countries in such arrangements. The specific numbers and nationalities of the deportees were not fully disclosed, though reports indicate the first group included Nigerians and a Gambian.
Ghana is not the only African country to have recently agreed to accept deportees from the United States.
One of the first countries to enter into such an agreement, South Sudan accepted a flight of eight deportees in July, only one of whom was a South Sudanese national. The government described the move as a “gesture of goodwill,” with reports suggesting a hope for the lifting of certain U.S. sanctions, such as an arms embargo.
In August, Rwanda agreed to a deal to accept up to 250 migrants deported from the U.S. A first group of seven deportees has already arrived.
The small kingdom of Eswatini also received five deportees from the U.S. in July, none of whom were from Eswatini.
Similarly, Uganda has also agreed to accept deportees from other African countries, on the condition that they do not have criminal records and are not unaccompanied minors. The country’s foreign ministry confirmed the agreement.
Washington has used diplomatic pressure and, in some cases, the promise of financial compensation or other concessions to secure these agreements from African countries.
