Relationship dossier
Burkina Faso
Ghana
Relationship assessment
Practical cooperation, alongside a notable diplomatic dispute in 2022
Burkina Faso toward Ghana
+15Burkina Faso has participated in bilateral cooperation with Ghana, including work on cross-border security. In 2022, its government summoned Ghana's ambassador after Ghana's foreign minister alleged that Burkina Faso had engaged the Wagner Group.
Ghana toward Burkina Faso
+10Ghana has engaged Burkina Faso through bilateral cooperation, including work on cross-border security. In 2022, Ghana's foreign minister publicly alleged that Burkina Faso had engaged the Wagner Group, prompting a diplomatic response from Burkina Faso.
Overall relationship
+15The relationship combines practical bilateral cooperation, including cross-border security work, with a significant public diplomatic dispute in 2022. This pattern indicates working ties with some recurring vulnerability to political friction.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Burkina Faso and Ghana have pursued practical cooperation, including bilateral work on cross-border security and other areas. Relations also experienced a public dispute in 2022, when Ghana's foreign minister alleged that Burkina Faso had engaged the Wagner Group; Burkina Faso summoned Ghana's ambassador and sought a retraction. These cooperative efforts and the episode of diplomatic friction support a mixed but modestly cooperative assessment.
Areas of tension
- Ghana's 2022 allegation that Burkina Faso had engaged the Wagner Group, followed by Burkina Faso's summons of Ghana's ambassador.
Key developments
Ghana's foreign minister alleged that Burkina Faso had engaged the Wagner Group; Burkina Faso summoned Ghana's ambassador and sought a retraction.
Major uncertainties
- The scope and implementation of bilateral security and other cooperation agreements are unclear.
- The extent to which the 2022 dispute affected subsequent government cooperation is uncertain.