Ghana seeks a BRICS partnership while keeping Western ties
Ghana intends to apply for BRICS partner-country status, Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa announced. He described the choice as an extension of non-alignment and said European Union members had been consulted. The government wants wider development options while maintaining existing partnerships. The announcement concerns a proposed application; Ghana has not been admitted to the group.
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Ghana chooses the partner-country category
Ghana intends to apply for partner-country status in BRICS, the cooperation group of emerging economies. Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa announced the plan on October 10 during a television appearance. He said Ghana wanted broader international engagement while maintaining relations with Western countries.[1], [2]
Ablakwa described the existing members as natural allies with whom Ghana already had good relations. He invoked Article 40 of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution in explaining the emphasis on national interests. The minister presented the group as a place for consultation and cooperation on regional and global issues.[1]
Ablakwa points to prior European consultations
European Union member states were consulted before the announcement, according to Ablakwa. He said those discussions explained Ghana’s reasons for diversifying its strategic development options. He rejected concerns that the initiative would harm relations with traditional partners and described it as consistent with the country’s non-alignment policy.[1]
He illustrated that policy with the period of Ghanaian leader Kwame Nkrumah. Ghana obtained United States support for the Akosombo Dam while cooperating with the Soviet Union on an atomic-energy programme, the minister recalled. His comparison concerned Ghana’s history of working with partners across ideological divisions.[1]
BRICS has a separate partnership category
The grouping’s first foreign-ministers’ meeting took place in New York in 2006, alongside the United Nations General Assembly. Its first summit was held in Russia in 2009. South Africa joined in 2010, giving BRICS its current name. Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates became full members in January 2024; Indonesia followed in January 2025.[1]
Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam entered the partner-country category in 2025. Ghana’s proposed application concerns that category. Admission is conditional on acceptance of the bid, and Ablakwa’s announcement does not establish that Ghana has been accepted.[1]
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