Ghana, Nigeria Urge African Union Action on South Africa Xenophobic Violence

Foreign ministers of Ghana and Nigeria met on the sidelines of the ECOWAS Mid‑Year Summit in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and jointly condemned the wave of anti‑immigrant (Afrophobic) attacks sweeping South Africa. They called on the African Union to place the issue on the agenda of its next summit, scheduled for early 2027, and urged an urgent, coordinated regional and continental response.

The ministers highlighted that the violence has forced roughly 150,000 migrants to leave South Africa, with Nigeria evacuating 1,490 of its citizens and Ghana repatriating at least 926. They stressed that such attacks undermine Pan‑Africanism, the African Continental Free Trade Area and the broader vision of unity and free movement of people. In related remarks at a Mandela Day event in Nigeria, participants linked the South African violence to a breach of Nelson Mandela’s legacy of tolerance and dialogue.

Both governments pledged deeper bilateral cooperation to monitor and prevent future Afrophobic protests, including proposals for early‑warning mechanisms within the African Union framework.