Pan-African Push: 176,000 Nigerians Visit Ghana In 2025, Travel Bodies Plan Growth
Ghana has reaffirmed its commitment to deepening tourism and cultural ties with Nigeria after official figures showed that 176,000 Nigerians visited Ghana in 2025, making Nigeria the country’s second-largest source of international arrivals last year.
The disclosure was made by Deputy Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Mr. Yusif Jajah, at an executive dinner on Tuesday evening.
According to a statement on Wednesday, the dinner, held at Safari Valley Resort in Adukrom, honoured the National Executive Council of the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA), which was in Ghana for a retreat and a familiarization tour of Safari World.
Speaking to the Nigerian travel trade delegation, Mr. Jajah cited Ghana’s 2025 Tourism Report, noting that Ghana recorded over 1.3 million international arrivals in 2025, with Nigerians contributing some 176,000 of those visitors.
“This executive dinner is an important platform for strengthening collaboration between our government, tourism stakeholders, and travel trade partners,”.
Mr. Jajah said. “Nigeria, our big brothers, remains one of Ghana’s most important tourism markets.”
He added that while official numbers show over 176,000 visits from Nigeria in 2025, actual people-to-people exchanges are likely even higher, underscoring strong ties between the two countries.
NANTA president Dr. Yinka Folami welcomed the statistics and emphasised the mutual benefits of deepened tourism links. Marking NANTA’s 50th anniversary and a membership of over 4,000 across Nigeria, Folami said the Ghana–Nigeria tourism corridor is a natural vehicle for Pan-African cooperation.
“Every journey between Ghana and Nigeria will strengthen Pan-Africa,” he said, urging Ghanaian operators to market Nigeria actively as a destination for reciprocal travel.
Safari World founder and CEO Mr. Samuel Afari described the NANTA visit as the culmination of a 15-year vision to build regional partnerships with the Nigerian travel market.
He said the delegation’s visit will boost regional cooperation and is expected to catalyse new tour packages targeting Nigerian travellers to Safari World locations in Accra, Ada and Dawu.
To close the evening, NANTA presented certificates of appreciation to Deputy Minister Jajah and Mr. Afari for their roles in promoting Ghana–Nigeria tourism relations. Industry observers said the reported 176,000 Nigerian arrivals in 2025 provide a clear basis for targeted marketing and joint initiatives that could raise numbers further in the coming years.