Ghana’s foreign minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, says Ghana has deepened its relations with Zambia as both nations have agreed to have free visas.
The foreign minister was in company with President Mahama and other officials when they departed Ghana for a 3-day visit to Zambia on Wednesday, February 4.
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The tour seeks to establish bilateral talks aimed at strengthening diplomatic relations, enhancing trade and investment cooperation, and exploring collaborative opportunities within the framework of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The team also met with Ghanaians in Zambia, where Hon. Okudzeto made these remarks.
According to him, Ghanaians will no longer have to go through stress to get a visa to Zambia, adding that the agreement will become President Mahama’s fifteenth visa-waiver agreement since he was sworn into office.
“For the first time in the history of Ghana-Zambia relations, we’re going to have a free-visa agreement between our two nations. So you no longer have to stress about visas,” he stated.
He further stated that the agreement is one of the conditions that President Mahama gave him prior to this visit, adding that he was instructed to make it happen.
“If you don’t make this happen, don’t join me on this visit. So while I was in Latvia, the chief director was chairing the technical meeting, and I told her the directives. We have three kinds of passports, but they have only two (Diplomatic and Ordinary), so they said we are not aligned because we have (Diplomatic, Service, and Ordinary passports), but we told them it was a Presidential directive, and if you want our President to be here and want his wishes to be granted, then you have to make sure that we reach this deal,” he added.
In conclusion, Hon. Okudzeto, who doubles as the MP for North Tongu, said a distress call was placed to Zambian President Hakainde, who accepted Ghana’s request to have the visa-waiver agreement completed.
“They reached out to their president, and he said if it’s my brother’s wish, I’m going to grant it. So we have the visa-waiver agreement. This will bring the number to 15 visa-waiver agreements since President Mahama was sworn into office,” he added.
Morocco, Kenya, Mauritius, Barbados, and Seychelles are a few of the countries to have signed the visa-waiver agreement with Ghana under President Mahama.
President Mahama and his team are expected to arrive in Ghana on Friday, February 6, 2026.
