Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has secured from bilateral talks in Russia a signed visa waiver agreement, a doubling of Russian scholarships for Ghanaian students, and a commitment to ratify a defence cooperation memorandum that has sat idle since 2016.
He set out the outcomes in a joint statement with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov during a three-day official visit. The visa waiver covers holders of diplomatic and service passports, removing a procedural barrier to official travel between the two countries.
Ablakwa also raised the deaths of 62 Ghanaians recruited to fight in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with 15 more missing, and said Lavrov pledged to work with Ghana to close the recruitment channels. Ablakwa described the visa waiver as the foundation of a changed relationship rather than an administrative convenience.
“We have just signed an agreement that will see holders of diplomatic and service passports of our two countries travel without visas. That is the basis of our new era of bilateral relations. We want to trust each other more. We want to be able to travel to and from our countries”.
Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
He set out what the arrangement is meant to unlock. “We want to expedite and really bolster our relations, and that is how to begin with very free and convenient travel without waiting for visas, without having any impediments. And so this is a landmark agreement, and we are very delighted that we have signed that agreement today,” he said.
The waiver applies to official travel rather than ordinary citizens, and it removes a step that has slowed ministerial and technical exchanges between the two governments.
Scholarships doubled to 240
The second outcome concerns education, with Russia raising the number of places it offers Ghanaian students each academic year from 120 to 240.
“It’s clear that I’m going home with a lot of positives from this official meeting. So the scholarships have now been doubled to 240. And I also like the fact that the areas for these scholarships are in the science and engineering fields, AI, robotics, and engineering, which are priority areas for the government”.
Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
The alignment matters for a government that has placed technology and industrial capacity at the centre of its economic programme, and it channels the additional places toward disciplines Ghana has struggled to fill domestically.
A defence memorandum revived after a decade
The third outcome addresses an instrument both countries signed but neither brought into force.
“We did sign an MOU in 2016, which has not been ratified by our parliaments, and so we have agreed that we are going to have that ratified so that we can have more deepened cooperation to deal with the threat of extremism, of terrorism, share intelligence, deal with the issues of kidnapping, the issues of piracy at the Gulf of Guinea”.
Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
Ratification would require action from legislatures in both countries. The threats named track the pressures Ghana faces from armed groups operating across the Sahel and from criminal activity along the Gulf of Guinea, where piracy has disrupted commercial shipping for years.
Sixty-two Ghanaians dead in the conflict
The hardest matter Ablakwa raised concerned young Ghanaians drawn into the fighting in Ukraine. “We raised the matter of a growing number of Ghanaian youth who are being lured to fight in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and we are seeing an increase in casualties. About 62 Ghanaians have lost their lives and 15 of them are missing,” he said.
He reported the response he received, framing it as a joint undertaking against networks operating outside official channels. “I’m happy with the response from Foreign Minister Lavrov who has pledged that we can work together to stop these illegal recruitments happening on the blind side of our two governments so that we can protect the lives of young people,” he said.
He addressed Ghanaians directly on the point, promising continued engagement to shut the routes through which recruits reach the front lines.
Russia backs Ghana on reparatory justice
Ablakwa thanked Russia for its position on a United Nations resolution Ghana led, describing Moscow as among the few European capitals that did not abstain.
“I also place on record Ghana’s appreciation to Russia for supporting our historic UN resolution, which Ghana led, declaring transatlantic enslavement as the gravest crime against humanity.
“Russia is one of the few European countries that did not abstain. They voted in favour of the resolution, and Russia has been working with us since the adoption of the resolution.”
Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
He noted that President Vladimir Putin sent a high-level delegation to the Accra Next Steps Summit in June, and conveyed President John Dramani Mahama’s appreciation to Putin, to Lavrov and to the Russian people.
Lavrov said Russia holds great respect for Ghana’s long-standing independent policy in combating neocolonialism and overcoming the injustices of the colonial era, and expressed gratitude that Ghana had shared its plans for further steps in that area.
Support on ECOWAS and the Sahel
The Russian Foreign Minister addressed regional security, focusing the discussion on terrorism across the Sahel-Sahara region and its effects on Ghana and its neighbours.
He said Russia stands ready to assist in restoring and normalising relations between members of the Economic Community of West African States and the three states of the Confederation of Sahel States that have left the bloc, noting that they remain neighbouring countries.
He also addressed Ghana’s industrial ambitions, saying President Mahama’s interest lies in creating as much added value as possible within the country rather than continuing to export raw materials for others to benefit from, and that Russia is ready to assist in every possible way.
Both ministers said they share a commitment to develop relations across the economy, trade, investment and the development of Ghana’s industry, on what they described as a solid and reliable foundation.
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