Ghana and the US have held consultations on a comprehensive assessment of our Ghana-US bilateral relations and agreed on priority areas for cooperation in 2026.
This meeting was hosted at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at beheart of Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.
In a post he said the ,meeting , ”also reviewed the significant progress we made in 2025”.
Acting US Ambassador, Rolf Olson led the US team.
Both parties welcomed successful negotiations which exempted Ghana from President Trump’s visa sanctions. Ghana will continue to be exempted from visa sanctions and $15,000 visa bonds imposed on other countries.
The meeting acknowledged the removal of President Trump’s 15% tariff on a wide range of unprocessed and semi-processed agricultural products from Ghana and expressed satisfaction with its implementation thus far.
The US conveyed another great news, specifically relating to the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) — the House of Representatives voted massively on Monday (a vote of 340 to 54) to extend AGOA by 3 years. AGOA provides duty-free access to the U.S. market for eligible Sub-Saharan countries and products. We expect a final endorsement by the Senate shortly. This positive development will boost local garment production and create more jobs.
Mr. Ablakwa said some pointers were reached on the up-coming World Cup.
”On World Cup preparations, we were assured that special measures have been put in place to expedite visa applications, this is also expected to address the current delays in securing visa appointments which we all agreed must be fixed”.
The US embassy is expected to address a press conference on these new World Cup Visa Application Initiatives soon.
Mr. Ablakwa who disclosed this said, ”Ghana and the United States applauded our improved security and law enforcement cooperation leading to the extradition of 9 suspects from Ghana to the USA in 2025, and the ongoing commendable efforts to also send over 2 Ghanaians of high interest from the US to Ghana”.
He said the United States Government has assured, that without prejudice to judicial processes, it will not stand in the way of Ghana as regards the removal of Ken Ofori-Atta and Sedina Tamakloe Attionu.
”Our engagement confirmed recent payments to US companies and the enhanced business climate which is ideal for stronger Ghana-US trade”.
A new major health cooperation will soon be launched, according to Mr. Ablakwa.
”In 2026 Ghana will negotiate a bespoke trade agreement with the United States in our mutual benefit”.
Conclusively, Ghana and the US were impressed with the consultations, according to the Foreign Affairs Minister.
” We are impressed with the incredible positive velocity of our Ghana-US bilateral relations”.
