Holders of the Ghanaian passport have been assured of additional visa waiver agreements expected to take effect between March and May 2026, a move aimed at expanding international travel opportunities for citizens.

The assurance was given by Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, after signing a visa-free travel agreement with Zambia weeks ago, on the sidelines of the ongoing AU summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on February 12.

“Expect more visa waiver agreements this year. Even within the month of March, you’ll be hearing some good news. April, some good news. May, there’ll be some good news. Expect more,” he told journalists.

The travel arrangements cover a combination of full visa-free entry, visa-on-arrival access, and electronic visa (E-visa) options.

Countries offering visa-free access include Bahamas – 90 days visa-free stay allowed, Bangladesh – 90 days visa-free stay allowed, Barbados – 180 days visa-free stay allowed, Belize, Benin – 90 days visa-free stay allowed, British Virgin Islands, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia – 30 days, Cape Verde Islands – 90 days visa-free stay allowed (Requirement to register online 5 days before arrival), Cook Islands, Cote d’Ivoire – 90 days visa-free stay allowed, Dominica – 180 days visa-free stay allowed, eSwatini – 30 days visa-free stay allowed, Fiji – 4 months visa-free stay allowed, Grenada – 90 days visa-free stay allowed, Guinea – 90 days visa-free stay allowed, Guinea-Bissau – 90 days visa-free stay allowed, Guyana – 90 days visa-free stay allowed, Haiti – 90 days visa-free stay allowed, Jamaica – 90 days visa-free stay allowed, Kenya – 90 days visa-free stay allowed, Kiribati – 90 days visa-free stay allowed, Liberia, Malawi – 90 days visa-free stay allowed, Maldives – Free VOA, Mali, Mauritius – 90 days visa-free stay allowed, Micronesia – 30 days visa-free stay allowed, Niger, Nigeria, Palau Islands – Free VOA, Philippines – 30 days visa-free stay allowed, Rwanda – 90 days visa-free stay allowed, Samoa – 60 days visa-free stay allowed, Senegal – 90 days visa-free stay allowed.

Other destinations providing similar travel privileges include South Africa – 90 days visa-free stay allowed, Tanzania – 90 days visa-free stay allowed, Uganda – 90 days visa-free stay allowed, Vanuatu – 120 days visa-free stay allowed, Zimbabwe – 90 days visa-free stay allowed, Zambia – Visa On Arrival, Bolivia, Burundi, Cambodia, Comoro Islands, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Iran, Jordan, Macao (SAR China), Maldives, Namibia, Nicaragua, Palau Islands, Samoa, Somalia, St. Lucia, Timor-Leste, Tuvalu – E-Visa, Albania, Antigua and Barbuda, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Botswana, Bolivia, Cameroon, Colombia, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lesotho, Malaysia, Mauritania, Moldova, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, São Tomé and Príncipe, Suriname, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Türkiye, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

Mr Ablakwa stressed that the government is determined to enhance the global standing of the national travel document.

“We want the Ghanaian passport to be the most valued passport in Africa and one of the most valued anywhere in the world. And we are on course. We are very much on course,” he stated.

He praised officials of the Foreign Affairs Ministry for their role in advancing negotiations and urged them to sustain their efforts.

“I’m excited about the progress we are making, and I want to congratulate the team of diplomats I work with who are helping me in the negotiations and who are in the advance team doing a lot of heavy lifting as we negotiate with all of these countries. And I’m really excited about what we are achieving with visa waivers since I became foreign minister,” he noted.

The Minister also highlighted improvements in the security features of Ghana’s new passport.

“Remember that the passport itself, many people do not know that it is now probably the most secure in terms of the security features we have. It’s now fully chip-embedded, no longer biometric, and we are ahead of so many countries,” Mr Ablakwa stressed.

Visa waiver arrangements allow citizens to enter participating countries without undergoing the often lengthy and expensive process of applying for a visa before travel.

For businesses in Ghana, the policy is expected to simplify entry into foreign markets and strengthen cross-border trade. The tourism sector is also anticipated to benefit, as reciprocal visa arrangements could attract more visitors into the country, supporting growth in hospitality, aviation, and related industries.

Ghana and Zambia no longer require visas for travel between the two countries following a historic visa waiver agreement .

The move, announced by Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, during President John Dramani Mahama’s three-day state visit to Zambia, is aimed at strengthening diplomatic, economic, and people-to-people relations between the two African countries.

Narrating the events that preceded the agreement, Mr Ablakwa explained that he was in contact with the Chief Director, who was chairing a technical committee meeting.

He reminded her of the presidential directive, but there was initially some confusion because Ghana has three types of passports, diplomatic, service, and ordinary—while they only had two, Diplomatic and then the ordinary passport.

Ablakwa said he stressed that the directive came from the president, leaving the Zambian government with no choice but to agree to the deal.

"If you want our president to be here and you want his wishes to be granted, then you have to make sure that we reach this deal. And at 11: 30pm last night, they reached out to their president, and he said if it is my brother's wish, I am going to grant you. So we have the visa-waver agreement," Ablakwa announced.

Adding that, "this will bring the number to fifteen visa waiver agreements since President Mahama was sworn into office."