PM Modi Conferred Ghana’s Highest Civilian Honour for Global Leadership
Award and Honour
6 min read
Prime Minister Narendra Modi received the highest civilian award of Ghana, Officer of the Order of the Star of Ghana, on 2 July 2025. The Prime Minister is on an 8-day tour of Ghana, Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina, Brazil, and Namibia — from July 2 to 9, 2025.
Recently, during his visit to Cyprus, PM Modi was honoured with Cyprus's highest civilian award, the Grand Cross of the Order of Makarios III.
Prime Minister Modi is the second Indian Prime Minister to visit Ghana in 30 years. During his visit to Ghana on 2 & 3 July 2025, four memorandum of understandings (MoUs) were signed between the two countries to strengthen the friendly relations.
Highlights of PM Modi’s Visit to Ghana
Arrival and reception
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Air India One plane arrived at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra, Ghana, on 2nd July 2025.
- He was received at the airport by Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama and was accorded 21 21-gun ceremonial salute.
- It was PM Modi’s first visit to Ghana and was the second Indian Prime Minister to visit Ghana after PV Narasimha Rao’s visit on 8-9 November 1995.
Award
- PM Modi received the ‘'Officer of the Order of the Star of Ghana’ honour from President John Mahama at the Jubilee House in Accra in recognition of his distinguished statesmanship and influential global leadership.
- He also held delegation-level talks with President John Mahama, where both leaders discussed bilateral and other issues.
Four MoUs signed between India and Ghana
Four memorandum of Understanding (MoU)s were signed and exchanged between India and Ghana in front of the two leaders. These MoUs are;
- Cultural Exchange Programme
- Between the Ghana Standards Authority and the Bureau of Indian Standards to enhance cooperation in standardisation, certification, and conformity assessment.
- Between the Institute of Traditional & Alternative Medicine, Ghana, and the Institute of Teaching & Research in Ayurveda, India, to promote collaboration in traditional medicine,
- Setting up a Joint Commission Meeting to institutionalise high-level dialogue between the two countries.
Relation Between India and Ghana
India supported Ghana’s independence struggle under Kwame Nkrumah's leadership against British colonial rule.
Diplomatic relations were established between the two countries in 1957, following Ghana's independence.
India has provided around $ 450 million of concessional loans and grants to Ghana for development projects.
Trade
The total trade between the two countries in 2022-23 was $2873.76 million. India’s imports were $ 1,909.59 million, while its exports to Ghana were $964.17 million.
Gold constitutes about 80 % of India’s imports from Ghana. India exports to Ghana consist of pharmaceuticals, agricultural machinery, transport vehicles, electrical equipment etc.
India is Ghana's largest export market.
About Ghana
Location - Situated on the coast of the Gulf of Guinea in Western Africa.
Ghana was formerly known as the Gold Coast due to the abundance of gold found along its coast.
Its name was changed to Ghana after it gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1957.
Europeans introduced the cacao tree and its seeds—cocoa beans — to the country, and Ghana is the second-largest cocoa producer in the world after Côte d'Ivoire.
Capital - Accra
Currency - Ghana Cedi
President - John Mahama
Also read- List of Foreign State Honours Received by PM Narendra Modi
