Recent comments by Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, which suggested the country’s involvement in the bombardment of Islamic State (ISIS) militants in Nigeria by the United States military on 25 December 2025, have brought to light a defence agreement signed between the Ghanaian government and that of the Americans.

The agreement, which is titled 'Agreement Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of Ghana on Defence Cooperation, the Status of United States Forces and Access to and Use of Agreed Facilities and Areas in the Republic of Ghana’, was signed under the government of former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

The agreement, uncovered by GhanaWeb, came with a $20 million grant to Ghana and was signed in Accra on 9 May 2018 by the then Defence Minister, Dominic Nitiwul, despite stiff opposition from a faction of the public, who argued that it was not in the interest of Ghana and would make the country a target for enemies of the United States.

It clarified “access to and use of agreed facilities and areas by United States forces, thereby facilitating training, including to maintain unit readiness, combined exercises, and other military engagement opportunities.”

It also stated that “United States forces may undertake the following types of activities in Ghana: training; transit; support and related activities; refuelling of aircraft; landing and recovery of aircraft; accommodation of personnel; communications; staging and deploying of forces and materiel; exercises; humanitarian and disaster relief; and other activities as mutually agreed.”

The defence agreement also listed the agreed facilities and areas in Ghana that the US army had unfettered access to, including an “exercise/operations support area located at a Ghana military facility adjacent to the Kotoka International Airport” and a “Primary Parking Area located at the Ghana military facility adjacent to the Kotoka International Airport.”

Can the US Army Operate in Ghana?: Inside the controversial defence agreement

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