The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okuzeto Ablakwa, has stated for the record that Ghana funded the evacuation of its nationals from South Africa entirely on its own, and that it cannot appear on any list of countries facing a reimbursement demand from Pretoria.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued the statement in Accra on Thursday, 13 August 2026, in response to reports that South Africa is seeking $18 million from a number of African governments for the cost of repatriating their citizens.
Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said the Government of Ghana and Ghanaian partners bore the entire cost of bringing citizens home following recent xenophobic attacks.
More than 1,600 Ghanaians have returned from South Africa since May 2026, and the Ministry said the evacuations continue, with each returnee receiving reintegration funds, transport fares and relief items on arrival.
The reimbursement demand Ghana is answering
The Ministry said it had taken note of media publications indicating that the Government of South Africa is requesting reimbursement amounting to $18 million from a number of African countries for the support and facilitation the South African Government extended in evacuating fellow Africans out of that country.
The figure comes from South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs, which briefed lawmakers this week on the cost of repatriating more than 80,000 immigrants following protests and violence over illegal immigration.
Officials said the money covered buses, temporary repatriation centres and staff overtime, and that written requests for compensation had gone to Malawi, Ethiopia and Nigeria.
A statement in unequivocal terms
The Ministry left no room for interpretation in setting out Ghana’s position. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs wishes to state for the record, in unequivocal terms, that the evacuation of all our compatriots was fully funded by the Government of Ghana and our Ghanaian partners,” the statement said.
It then closed the question of any South African contribution. “For the avoidance of doubt, Ghana did not seek any financial or material support from the South African Government to bring our fellow nationals back home,” the Ministry said.
The same principle applied to the most recent flights. Government further assures that the latest round of evacuations have followed the same principle, the statement said, with the Government of Ghana and Ghanaian partners bearing the entire cost.
More than 1,600 evacuated since May
The Ministry set out the scale of the operation it has funded. Since May 2026, more than 1,600 Ghanaians have been evacuated home from South Africa by the Government of Ghana, and the evacuations continue.
That figure marks a sustained programme rather than a single emergency airlift, running across three months as conditions in South Africa deteriorated for foreign nationals. The statement also described what happens after arrival, framing repatriation as the first stage rather than the whole of the government’s obligation.
Upon arrival in Ghana, the Ministry said, evacuees are all provided with reintegration funds, transport fares and other relief items, as part of the government’s commitment to ensure their smooth reintegration.
The distinction matters for the argument Ghana is making. A government that pays for flights and then hands returnees money for onward travel and resettlement is describing a cost structure that extends well beyond the transport South Africa is billing others for.
Ghana will not appear on the list
The Ministry gave a direct assurance to citizens following the reports. “Ghanaians can therefore be assured that under no circumstances will Ghana be listed among the countries being requested by the Government of South Africa to reimburse the cost incurred in repatriating foreign nationals,” the statement said.
Hon. Ablakwa made the same point in his own remarks, saying Ghanaians are assured that Ghana cannot be included in the list of countries from which South Africa is demanding reimbursement.
The Ministry closed by restating the principle it says governs its response to Ghanaians in danger abroad, reiterating the government’s commitment to protecting the lives and welfare of citizens wherever they may be.
It will continue to take timely and decisive action whenever the safety and security of Ghanaians abroad are at risk, the statement said, regardless of the cost required. The Ministry conveyed profound gratitude to President John Mahama and Ghanaian partners for ensuring a fully Ghanaian-funded evacuation.
The Ministry has not published the total cost of the evacuations, nor identified the Ghanaian partners who contributed alongside the government. Neither has it stated how much each returnee receives in reintegration funds.
The Ministry also gives no account of how many Ghanaians remain in South Africa, or how long the evacuation programme will run. With flights continuing and no end date announced, the eventual cost of a policy declared to be borne regardless of expense remains an open figure.
READ ALSO: Diana Hopeson Returns With Her Powerful New Gospel Album Megyae
