Ghana-Israel relations: Seminal moments to relish even after 65 years

Did you know that Ghana was the first African country to establish diplomatic relations with Israel? Too bad if you are not in sync with history.

Having established an embassy in the country since the independence era, Israel has been a longtime diplomatic friend of Ghana, offering various forms of support in tourism, trade, agriculture and other economic interests.


But it is the manner in which Ghanaian pilgrims and tourists sojourn Israel that have taken the limelight. Fulfilling various spiritual and religious interest in the country’s ‘holy’ city-Jerusalem.

However, there is more to Ghana-Israel relations beyond the ‘spiritual’. Giving more perspective and clarity to this friendship, Her Excellency Shlomit Sufa, the Ambassador of Israel to Ghana, expressed delight at the deep relations between the two nations.

Familiar with Mashav? Well for many developing countries, this word rings a ‘loud’ bell. Interestingly, Mashav, Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation was birth following a visit by Israel’s Foreign Minister to Ghana in 1958.

The agency has since supported a host of developing countries around the world. Speaking of aid, an area that Ghana has greatly benefited from Israel and continues to drink deep is Agriculture. After all, who would not want to learn from a country that has chalked great success in agriculture.


Israel on the one hand continues to show Ghana the way by sending participants to learn and acquire knowledge and knowhow for better agriculture. Adopting, the ‘trainer of trainer’ method, the scalability and lasting impact of such initiatives are guaranteed.

The idea is that, the experts sent on such voyages upon their return, will pass on the knowledge acquired. Additionally, Israel in 2022, inaugurated a food processing center targeted at increasing the production and shelf life of gari, a stable food commodity enjoyed within the West African region.

Women and youth empowerment are a big part of Israel’s ties with Ghana, according to Madam Shlomit Sufa.

She highlighted the deliberate efforts made towards inclusivity by adding women and the youth in the Embassy’s programs. The latest has been special arrangements for some selected Ghanaian Businesswomen to visit Israel in the summer of 2023.

Israel’s priority is to engineer Cybersecurity training in Ghana. Ghana’s current digital index may be at number 3 on the continental level, but thanks to ties with Israel, a giant in that field, the country is only few steps from being number 1. Israel continues to organize seminars to spur experts in the digital field to the top as well as provide access to international conferences. Actually, these are just a few examples out of many!

Israel also provides support for Ghana in the area of water management, through partnerships between Ghanaian and Israeli Companies where advanced technologies and techniques for water management are shared. There have been data and arial mapping support to the municipals for construction of drainages thus curbing flooding in the long run.

It is apparent that Israel stands firmly by Ghana in several ways. The innovative ecosystem line up with the Ghana Government and other Private Entities shows how deep those feelings go. The embassy also hosts competitions within the agriculture and climate space on a rolling basis, usually inviting innovative ideas from individuals and firms to improve the ecosystem.

The ambassador’s message to the youth was simple- dream big, work hard and achieve results. Even if you do not achieve the desired results, the effort and time would pay off otherwise.