Ghanaian-Danish relations

The first contacts between Danes and people on the Gold Coast were established in the middle of the 17th century. In that period the Danes built among other things the Christiansborg Castle in Accra. This part of the history came to a close in 1850, when Denmark sold her holdings to England.

Soon after Ghana’s independence in 1957, Denmark assisted Ghana in the area of adult education by building and running the Folk High School in Tsito in the Volta Region. This was one of the first development projects in Africa, carried out by a Danish NGO. During the first decades after independence, Denmark contributed to development efforts in Ghana both through loans on favourable terms and through various NGO projects, in particular the Ghana Friendship groups in Denmark.

The official development cooperation between Ghana and Denmark began in 1958. In 1961, a Danish Embassy was opened in Accra. Linked to political developments, the Embassy was however, closed again in 1983.

8 years later the Embassy was reopened. Today it has 23 employees, of which 6 have been posted to Accra. This reflects the considerable development cooperation between Ghana and Denmark. Other accredited countries covered by the Accra embassy are Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Togo, and Sierra Leone.