Ghana to Set Up Diaspora Consular Fund – Ablakwa
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Ghana to Set Up Diaspora Consular Fund to Support Distressed Citizens Abroad – Ablakwa
Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, says government will soon roll out a dedicated fund to help Ghanaians who find themselves in crisis situations abroad.
According to Ablakwa, this new fund will directly support things like emergency evacuations and consular services whenever Ghanaian citizens abroad find themselves in urgent need.
He shared the plan during a briefing on Monday, September 7, using the recent South African evacuation as a real-world example of why such a fund has become necessary. Government spent GH¢49.72 million evacuating 1,964 Ghanaians from South Africa following a wave of xenophobic attacks.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will soon launch a Ghanaian Diaspora Consular Fund which will serve as an emergency response funding mechanism to swiftly take care of Ghanaians in distress and during crisis situations anywhere in the world, Ablakwa said.
Ablakwa gave a detailed account of exactly where the GH¢49,721,786.00 went. Chartered flights, tickets, ground transportation, feeding, hotel accommodation in South Africa, and medical and hospitalisation costs made up the largest share at GH¢38,835,512.00. Reintegration and transportation allowances for returnees came to GH¢10,802,000.00, while repatriating two mortal remains cost GH¢84,274.00.
Of that total cost, government covered GH¢33,721,786.00, while Ibrahim Mahama’s company, Engineers and Planners, donated the remaining GH¢16,000,000.00.
Ablakwa didn’t hold back in praising that gesture. The Government of Ghana commends him for his extraordinary commitment to the welfare of Ghanaians, he said, also extending appreciation to the other state institutions that played a role in making the evacuation a success.
Ablakwa was clear that South Africa is just one piece of a much larger, ongoing effort. Beyond the recent evacuations from South Africa, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, its diplomatic missions and our international partners have actively intervened across multiple countries to repatriate Ghanaians in distress, he said.
Since 2025, a total of 4,972 Ghanaians have been safely brought home. That figure breaks down as follows: 3,807 from Libya, 440 from Côte d’Ivoire (victims of QNET schemes and demolition exercises), 246 from Nigeria (also QNET victims), 244 from Cambodia, 201 from Algeria, 18 from Kuwait, 8 from Sierra Leone, 5 from Mauritius, 2 from Morocco, and 1 from Iraq.
For Ablakwa, these recurring operations make a strong case for why Ghana needs a more sustainable funding solution, rather than piecing together resources each time a new crisis emerges.
These recurring operations underscore the immense financial and logistical burden of responding to unexpected distress situations across the globe. This is precisely why it has become imperative to establish the Ghanaian Diaspora Consular Fund. It will afford us a dedicated and sustainable emergency funding mechanism to ensure that Ghana can promptly mobilise resources to safeguard the rights, dignity and welfare of our citizens, he said.
