Ghana’s current official relationship with the United States of America (US) is ostensibly based on mutual respect and cooperation. However, the history of this relationship is a chequered one, marked by episodes of ideological tensions, intrigues and espionage, development assistance, and multilateral cooperation. Overall, Ghana’s engagement with the US is shaped by Ghana’s subordinate position in the highly unequal international system. The prevailing liberal international order – which refers to the set of norms, institutions, structures, and enduring patterns of multilateral dynamics that have emerged since the Second World War – is largely controlled by the US (Lake et al., 2021). This puts the US in the position to coerce other countries in bilateral and multilateral engagements if they refuse to comply with stated US objectives.
The US established formal diplomatic relations with Ghana when the country achieved political independence from British colonial rule in 1957. Under Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president, the relationship between the two countries was outwardly cordial but privately strained due to Nkrumah’s socialist domestic policy, his Pan-Africanist continental policy, and his non-aligned international posture (Akyeampong, 2018). After Nkrumah was overthrown in a coup instigated by the US and the UK (Quaidoo, 2010), Ghana’s relations with the US fluctuated considerably amid a series of political crises culminating in Jerry Rawlings’ rise to power through a military coup in 1981.
The Ghana-US relations started on a rocky note in the early years of Rawlings’ tenure but had considerably improved by the time he handed over power in 2001. In 1983, Ghana approached the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank for a bailout programme and became one of the first African countries to implement the controversial structural adjustment programmes (SAPs). The market-oriented reforms that the country implemented under the SAP brought it closer to the US global economic interests. Relations further improved as the country began liberalising its politics from the late 1980s, culminating in the promulgation of a new Constitution in 1992 and the inauguration of the Fourth Republic (Boafo-Arthur, 1999). Since then, Ghana’s commitment to multiparty politics and openness to neoliberal economic policies has positioned it as a key partner for the US and other Western powers.
As the liberal international order comes increasingly under pressure from rising powers (Lake et al., 2021; Mearsheimer, 2019) and West African countries reject historical ties and align themselves with Western rivals like Russia and China, the US increasingly sees Ghana as an important showcase for the success of the liberal order and as a crucial base for the projection of western influence in Africa (Chin, 2024). For example, after they got kicked out of Niger, Ghana is one of three coastal West African states that is being considered for the relocation of US drone bases along the West African littoral (Phillips, 2024).
Ghana currently has strong bilateral relations with the US. Over the years, there have been multiple high-level visits of US leaders to Ghana, including Presidents Clinton (1998), Obama (2009), Vice President Harris (2023), and House Speaker Pelosi (2019). The two countries also have close cooperation on the military front. Ghana has a Status of Forces Agreement with the US that includes joint military exercises and gives the US access to Terminal 1 of the Kotoka International Airport, although the US Embassy in Accra denies that this agreement permits it to establish a military base in Ghana (US Embassy Ghana, 2018). Other areas of cooperation include trade, education, cultural exchange, agriculture, and health.
The Ghanaian President at the time of the 2024 US elections was close to the West and sought to deepen Ghana’s bilateral ties with the US. He condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and broke with other African leaders by expressing ‘firm’ support for Ukraine and for Israel’s onslaught on Gaza after the October 7 2023 operation by Hamas (Myjoyonline, 2023).
Using the four-point scale adopted by the study, the relations between Ghana and the US at the time of the 2024 US elections can be characterised as cooperation.
References
Akyeampong, E. (2018). African socialism; or, the search for an indigenous model of economic development? Economic History of Developing Regions, 33(1), 69–87. https://doi.org/10.1080/20780389.2018.1434411
Boafo-Arthur, K. (1999). Ghana: Structural adjustment, democratization, and the politics of continuity. African Studies Review, 42(2), 41–72.
Chin, J. J. (2024). Why Ghana’s Election Matters Across Africa | Journal of Democracy. https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/online-exclusive/why-ghanas-election-matters-across-africa/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email#author
Lake, D. A., Martin, L. L., & Risse, T. (2021). Challenges to the liberal order: Reflections on international organization. International Organization, 75(2), 225–257.
Mearsheimer, J. J. (2019). Bound to fail: The rise and fall of the liberal international order. International Security, 43(4), 7–50.
Phillips, M. M. (2024, January 4). WSJ News Exclusive | U.S. Seeks Drone Bases in Coastal West Africa to Stem Islamist Advance. WSJ. https://www.wsj.com/world/africa/u-s-seeks-drone-bases-in-coastal-west-africa-to-stem-islamist-advance-21282861
Quaidoo, E. (2010). The United States and the overthrow of Kwame Nkrumah. Doctoral thesis, https://scholars.fhsu.edu/theses/178/
US Embassy Ghana. (2018, March 20). Statement on Status of Forces Agreement. U.S. Embassy in Ghana. https://gh.usembassy.gov/statement-status-forces-agreement/