West Africa Condemns Xenophobic Attacks in South Africa

The governments of Nigeria and Ghana have strongly denounced the recent surge in anti-immigrant violence in South Africa, emphasizing the need for a unified African response to address the root causes of this issue. Following a meeting between the foreign ministers of Ghana and Nigeria on the sidelines of the ECOWAS gathering in Liberia, the two nations condemned all forms of xenophobia, Afrophobia, and violence against African nationals in South Africa. The meeting, which took place on Friday, was attended by Ghana's Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa and Nigeria's Sola Enikanolaiye, who both agreed that the issue of Afrophobia should be discussed at the upcoming African Union summit. The violence, which has been ongoing for weeks, has led to the displacement of tens of thousands of people, with nearly 150,000 individuals fleeing the country in recent weeks, according to data provided by African countries that have repatriated their nationals. Nigeria has evacuated 1,490 of its citizens from South Africa, while Ghana has repatriated at least 926. The ministers emphasized the importance of urgent, coordinated regional and continental responses to address the causes behind the anti-immigrant tensions. In May, Ghana had requested an AU debate on xenophobic attacks in South Africa, although it is unclear if the debate took place. Earlier this month, Ghana announced that a scheduled visit by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to Accra had been postponed.