The Prime Minister of India, Narenda Modi, pays a two-day official visit to Ghana from Wednesday, July 2 to Thursday, July 3. President John Mahama and Prime Minister Modi will hold bilateral talks to strengthen cooperation between the two countries. Ahead of the visit The Ghanaian Times shares with you an insight into Ghana-India relations, courtesy the India High Commission in Accra.
INDIA-GHANA relations have traditionally been warm and friendly resting on solid foundation anchored in shared values and common vision. India opened its representative office in Accra in 1953, prior to Ghana’s independence, and established full-fledged diplomatic relations with Ghana in 1957, immediately after it attained independence.
The exchange of high-level visits have played a pivotal role in strengthening the bilateral relations between India and Ghana.
Development partnership: India extends US$450m commercial credits, grants to Ghana
Indian High Commissioner to Ghana, Manish Gupta
India has been supporting Ghana’s development by providing assistance in developmental projects through concessional lines of credit (LoC) and grants. (In the past Ghana was one of the nine West African countries under India’s TEAM 9 initiative launched in 2004). Till date, India has extended about US$ 450 million of concessional credit and grants to Ghana for various projects. Amongst them are:
Rural Electrification Project (2003), India-Ghana Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence for ICT (2003); Jubilee House Presidential Complex (2008); Komenda Sugar Plant (2016) and Elmina Fish Processing Plant (2016). Foreign Service Training Institute constructed with partial funding of US$ 5 million LoC has been completed and handed over to the Foreign Office in March, 2023.
Grant assistance of US$ 1 million was provided to upgrade the India-Ghana Kofi Annan ICT Centre in 2016. Another grant of US$ 1 million was provided to rehabilitate the Jubilee House Presidential Complex in 2017.
In addition to LoCs, India extended Buyers’ Credit of US$ 398.33 million for the Tema-Akosombo railway line in November 2016 and an additional US$ 48.84 million for extension of the track to Mpakadan. On November 22, 2024, President Akufo-Addo inaugurated the Tema-Mpakadan Standard Gauge Railway Line (SGRL) and Diesel Multiple Unit trains (DMU) in Accra. The US$ 447 million and 97.7-kilometre railway line project including a 300-metre bridge over the Volta River, is funded under Buyers’ Credit of Exim Bank of India. The project is the first section of Ghana-Burkina Faso inter-connectivity project connecting Tema, Ghana’s key port city, to Mpakadan, aimed at strengthening links with neighbouring countries.
Other loans extended under Buyer’s Credit are US$ 158.62 for the Tamale-Walewale Road Project and US$ 24.98 for establishment of Assembly Plant for agricultural machinery.
Capacity building is a strong pillar of bilateral cooperation. Ghana has benefited from India’s assistance in human resource development through the optimum utilisation of ITEC and ICCR scholarships and specialised training programmes conducted under India Africa Forum Summit decisions. During 2020-2021, Ghana utilised 23 Defence ITEC slots and 30 ICCR scholarships. During 2021-22, despite COVID-19 pandemic, Ghana utilised 39 Defence ITEC slots and 34 ICCR scholarships.
In 2024 (Jan-Nov., 2024), 128 civilians, 109 Defence personnel were trained in India under the ITEC programme. 35 scholarships under ICCR & three scholarships under AYUSH have been awarded to Ghanaians. Education Fair was held by TIES Global in collaboration with the Periyar Foundation (PAF), supported by HCI Accra, in Kumasi on February 8, 2024 and in Accra on February 9, 2024. 10 prestigious Indian universities and students from 15 Ghanaian schools participated in the fair.
The High Commission of India in Ghana, in collaboration with Ties Global, hosted the “Study in India Fair” in Kumasi and Accra on April 22, 2025 and April 23, 2025 respectively. Various Indian universities engaged prospective students to study in India.
Ghana has also been a beneficiary of the Pan African E-Network, now called e-VBAB [e-Vidya Bharati (tele education) & e-Arogya Bharati (tele medicine)] Project. A MoU was signed between Ghana and TCIL on August 26, 2019 for participation by Ghana in the e-VBAB project to provide good quality, affordable and effective tele-education and tele-medicine services through specially developed web-based platforms.
A state-of-the-art Learning Centre has been established and maintained at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi at a cost of US$ 0.1 million under e-VBAB project by the Government of India. The Centre was inaugurated on December 13, 2021 by Mr Simon Mensah, Ashanti Regional Minister. The students facing internet connectivity issues at their homes are open to avail benefits of the Learning Centre for their studies and for giving online examinations. Ghana was the pilot country to roll out the project implemented in 2020. Over 1,600 scholarships have been offered to the students of Ghana mostly specialising in professional degree programmes.
Humanitarian assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic: Indian assistance of 50,000 vaccines as gift grant was handed to Ghana on March 5, 2021. Earlier Ghana received 600,000 Made in India Covishield vaccines on February 24, 2021 as part of Covax initiative. Subsequently, on May 11, 2022, one million Made in India Covishield vaccines were received by Ghana under Covax.
Indian companies invest 820
projects valued at US$ 1.92bn
1994-2024
India is among the top trading partners of Ghana and is the largest destination for Ghanaian exports. Ghana has a positive trade balance with India, mainly due to huge imports of gold by India which accounts for over 70 per cent of total imports from Ghana. Ghana’s main exports to India are gold, cocoa, cashew nuts and timber products. India’s major exports to Ghana include pharmaceuticals, agricultural machinery, transport vehicles, electrical equipment, plastics, iron and steel, ethyl alcohol beverages and spirits, cereals, made-up textiles etc.
The exchange of business delegations in recent years has led to an increase in investments by Indian companies in Ghana. A number of Indian companies including Tata, Ashok Leyland, Mahindra & Mahindra, Escorts, Larson & Toubro, NIIT, Shapoorji Pallonji, as well as several pharmaceutical companies have established their presence in Ghana. Indian companies in SMEs sector and in agriculture sector are also increasing their presence in the country.
According to the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), Indian companies have invested in 820 projects aggregating to US$ 1.92 billion between 1994 and 2024. The FDIs in 2021 was US$ 93.84 million in 25 projects, representing 7.61 per cent of Ghana’s total FDIs of US$ 1,298.66 million in 271 projects. The FDIs in 2022 recorded from India was US$ 32.48 million in 21 projects, and US$ 77.93 million in 13 projects in 2023. Recent FDIs figure from India in 2024 amounted to US$ 16.46 million in 12 projects.
India is among the top investors in Ghana, holding the 2nd place for investments in 12 projects (after China) and 8th by value of FDIs being US$ 16.46 million (top 3 being Netherlands, Egypt, and Spain) in 2024 according to GIPC’s most recent report.
This constitutes 2.67 per cent of Ghana’s 2024 total FDIs received which was US$ 617.61 million. These projects were in sectors such as: Manufacturing, Services, General Trading, Export Trade, Agriculture, Building and Construction, Tourism, and Liaison.
The High Commission launched the India-Business Forum (IBF) in Ghana on November 23, 2020 to foster bilateral trade and investment.
Ghana-India trade crosses US$
1bn mark
Bilateral trade between India and Ghana has been steady during the last four years and Indian exports are broadly on an upward trajectory. Major changes on Ghanaian exports to India are largely governed by quantum of gold and cocoa product India’s export to Ghana has risen in recent times from 2011- 12 when it was US$ 800 million to as high as US$ 1.3 billion in 2024-25, crossing the one billion mark. On the other hand, India’s import (Ghana’s export to India) has increased as high as US$1.9 billion in 2022-23 and are US$ 1.8 billion in 2024-25.
Socio-cultural:
There is greater awareness of India in Ghana through Indian soap operas telecast by local television channels. The first ‘Festival of India’ in Ghana – ‘Maitri’ was organised from January 25 to March 13, 2017, in collaboration with Indian Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts of Ghana. The International Day of Yoga has been celebrated in Ghana annually since 2015. Important occasions such as Unity Day, Constitution Day, World Hindi Day, Pravasi Bharatiya Day, ITEC/ Partnership Day, Swachchta Abhiyan campaign, etc. are celebrated regularly with the participation of the locals and Indian community.
There are 14 Indian and regional associations in Ghana that work actively to promote different facets of India’s cultural heritage by celebrating various regional festivals and participating in events organised by the High Commission.
Ghana hosts 15,000 Indian
community
There is a sizable Indian community in Ghana numbering over 15,000. Some of them have been in Ghana for over 70 years. Some families are now the fourth generation in Ghana and most have acquired Ghanaian citizenship. Several expatriates are also working for MNCs and prominent local Ghanaian businesses as skilled workers. The Indian community is served by a Hindu Temple, a Gurudwara, and a Hindu Monastery, (the latter founded by a Ghanaian convert to Hinduism). ISKCON Temple (mostly run by Ghanaians) and Art of Living Centre are also active. The Indian Association of Ghana is the oldest association, which also has a community centre that organises Indian festivals and cultural programmes. Indian Association makes generous contributions to local community development projects and donations to charitable causes.
