Ghana and Canada are exploring opportunities to strengthen bilateral defence and security cooperation, with discussions focusing on military training, intelligence sharing, cyber defence and emerging security threats.
The discussions took place when the Canadian High Commissioner to Ghana, Her Excellency Myriam Montrat, paid a courtesy call on the Minister for Defence, Hon. Kenneth Gilbert Adjei, at The Square to discuss mutual interests and identify areas for expanded collaboration.
Hon. Adjei welcomed the High Commissioner and commended Canada’s longstanding support for the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), particularly in military training, peacekeeping operations and initiatives promoting women’s participation in international security missions.
He reaffirmed Ghana’s readiness to deepen the partnership, noting that cooperation with Canadian counterparts could strengthen the country’s defence capabilities and improve its response to evolving security challenges.
Canada Backs Ghana’s Security and Defence Priorities
The Defence Minister highlighted the importance of building institutional and operational capacity to protect Ghana against both internal and external threats. He identified military training, intelligence sharing and peace support operations as areas where Ghana would welcome stronger engagement with Canada.
Hon. Adjei further outlined cyber defence, artificial intelligence (AI), maritime security and surveillance technologies as priority areas for future collaboration. He explained that modernising the Ghana Armed Forces required investments in technical expertise and advanced capabilities to address increasingly complex security threats.
The proposed areas of cooperation reflect the changing nature of modern warfare, where conventional military preparedness must increasingly be complemented by digital security, intelligence capabilities and technological innovation.
Cyber threats, in particular, present growing challenges to national security, while maritime surveillance remains important for protecting territorial waters and safeguarding economic activities along the Gulf of Guinea. The Minister maintained that strengthening these capabilities would reinforce Ghana’s commitment to democratic governance, national stability and regional security.
Canada Reaffirms Commitment to Ghana’s Security
High Commissioner Montrat highlighted Canada’s continued contribution to strengthening Ghana’s security architecture, particularly through military cooperation, specialised training and support for peacekeeping operations.
Canada provides training to the Ghana Armed Forces through its Military Training and Cooperation Programme, which seeks to improve interoperability among partner countries and strengthen bilateral defence relations. Through the programme, Ghanaian military personnel benefit from professional development opportunities and specialised training aimed at improving their effectiveness in international peace support operations.
The High Commissioner also reaffirmed Canada’s commitment to supporting Ghana’s defence institutions as they respond to emerging regional and international threats. She emphasised the importance of sustaining the partnership and exploring additional opportunities to strengthen the operational capacity of Ghana’s security institutions.
Elsie Initiative Advances Women’s Participation
A significant component of Ghana-Canada defence cooperation is the Elsie Initiative for Women in Peace Operations, through which Canada has supported the Ghana Armed Forces since 2018. The initiative seeks to identify and address institutional barriers preventing uniformed women from participating meaningfully in United Nations peacekeeping missions.
Canada describes its objective as increasing “the meaningful participation of uniformed women in UN peace operations”. The partnership supports gender policy development, specialised training, gender-responsive leadership and institutional reforms within participating military organisations.
An important milestone was the launch of the Ghana Armed Forces Gender Policy on March 15, 2024, with support from Canada. The policy seeks to strengthen gender equality within the military, including fair recruitment, career progression and protection against discrimination.
More recently, the partnership advanced into its second phase with a Gender Adviser’s Course held at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre from March 24 to April 2, 2026. The programme brought together 23 military officers and defence civilian staff to strengthen their capacity in gender mainstreaming.
High Commissioner Montrat highlighted these interventions as evidence of the partnership’s contribution to building a more inclusive and effective military institution.
Both Countries Commit to Expanding Cooperation
The meeting concluded with discussions on emerging security challenges and the importance of international collaboration in addressing threats that increasingly cross national borders. Both delegations acknowledged that strengthening defence partnerships was essential to improving preparedness, sharing expertise and developing coordinated responses to evolving security concerns.
For Ghana, deeper cooperation with Canada offers opportunities to improve military capabilities, expand technical expertise and strengthen its contribution to regional and international peacekeeping efforts. The two countries reaffirmed their commitment to building on existing relations and identifying further areas of collaboration to advance their shared defence and security interests.
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