At the invitation of Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, President of the Republic of Ghana, will undertake a State Visit to Jamaica from August 2 to 5 and will be the Special Guest of the Government of Jamaica for the nation’s Emancipation and Independence commemorations.

The period will also include an Official Visit by South Africa’s Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Mr Alvin Botes, who will be representing His Excellency Cyril Ramaphosa, President of the Republic of South Africa, to whom an invitation was also extended. This Official Visit will add to Jamaica’s high-level engagements with African partners during the celebrations.

State Visit

President Mahama’s visit follows a series of high-level engagements between Jamaica and Ghana that have strengthened relations between the two countries and expanded cooperation in health, defence, trade and investment, education, culture, tourism, air services and technical exchange.

Earlier this year, Jamaica welcomed Ghana’s Foreign Minister, Samuel Ablakwa, for an Official Visit that included a courtesy call on Prime Minister, Dr Andrew Holness, and bilateral discussions with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Honourable Kamina Johnson Smith, and other Cabinet Ministers. The visit also reaffirmed Ghana’s support for Jamaica’s post-Hurricane Melissa recovery, including through the deployment of members of the engineering corps of the Ghana Defence Force.

That momentum continued in May when Minister Johnson Smith travelled to Accra for the Third Session of the Jamaica-Ghana Permanent Joint Commission for Cooperation, the first meeting in more than two decades. The Session produced new agreements in health and defence, established a renewed framework for collaboration across priority sectors, and included Minister Johnson Smith’s courtesy call on President Mahama.

President Mahama’s visit is expected to advance implementation of those agreements, deepen political dialogue and identify new opportunities for cooperation. During the visit, the President will, inter alia, be received by His Excellency the Governor General, hold bilateral discussions with Prime Minister Holness and other senior Government officials, participate in a Joint Sitting of the Houses of Parliament, meet with the private sector and visit the Seville Heritage Park where Ghana has erected two African traditional houses as a symbol of the strong historical and cultural ties between the two countries.

Official Visit

Mr Alvin Botes, Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of the Republic of South Africa, will undertake an Official Visit to Jamaica from August 4 to 7 in representation of the President of South Africa at Jamaica’s Independence commemorations.

This visit follows discussions between Prime Minister Holness and South Africa’s President, His Excellency Cyril Ramaphosa, on the margins of the G20 Summit in Johannesburg last November, during which Prime Minister Holness invited the South African President to visit Jamaica on the occasion of the national celebrations.

The Official Visit will also provide an opportunity for Jamaica and South Africa to review bilateral cooperation and explore new areas of collaboration. It builds on a longstanding relationship spanning more than three decades of diplomatic ties and follows the resumption of the Jamaica-South Africa Political Consultations, which continue to provide an important mechanism for advancing structured dialogue and cooperation between the two countries. In addition to meeting with government officials, the Deputy Minister will meet with the private sector and participate in cultural activities.

Quick Facts

Ghana deployed a 54 member-contingent comprising military engineers and medical personnel to Jamaica in December 2025, to support reconstruction following Hurricane Melissa, working alongside the Jamaica Defence Force to repair damaged homes in communities across western Jamaica.

Jamaica and Ghana are working together to advance cultural cooperation and reparatory justice. Jamaica is pleased to be among the 123 countries that supported the adoption of a United Nations Resolution endorsing the Trafficking of Enslaved Africans and Racialised Chattel Enslavement of Africans as the Gravest Crime Against Humanity, an effort led by the Republic of Ghana. The resolution, which was adopted on March 25, 2026, strengthens international recognition of the scale, duration and enduring impact of the transatlantic slave trade and racialised chattel enslavement.

The last Official Visit by a South African Minister to Kingston took place in March 2024, when Dr Grace Naledi Mandisa Pandor, then Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, visited Jamaica to commemorate 30 years of diplomatic relations between Jamaica and South Africa.

Jamaica and South Africa established diplomatic relations in 1994, following South Africa’s first democratic elections and the election of President Nelson Mandela. In 1991, President Mandela visited Jamaica, shortly after his release from prison. During the visit, he was conferred the Order of Jamaica (OJ and received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from The University of the West Indies.