Ghana

the military’s primary missions are border defense, assisting with internal security, peacekeeping, and protecting the country’s territorial waters, particularly its offshore oil and gas infrastructure; it has benefited from cooperation with foreign partners, such as the UK and the US, and experience gained from participation in multiple international peacekeeping missions in recent years, Ghana has expanded the Army and reinforced its presence in the northern part of the country to shore up porous borders, interdict smuggling routes, and counter threats from the terrorist organization Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM), a coalition of al-Qa'ida linked militant groups which has a considerable presence in Burkina Faso and has conducted attacks in Cote d'Ivoire and Togo; Ghana has also made efforts to increase the Navy's capabilities to protect its maritime claims and counter threats such as piracy and illegal fishing (2025)

875 Lebanon (UNIFIL); 725 (plus about 275 police) South Sudan (UNMISS); 670 Sudan (UNISFA) (2025)

note: since sending a contingent of troops to the Congo in 1960, the military has been a regular contributor to African- and UN-sponsored peacekeeping missions

Ghana Armed Forces (GAF): Army, Air Force, Ghana Navy Ministry of Interior: Ghana Police Service (2025)

note: the GAF also has a Medical Service/Corps

18-27 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription (2025)

note: as of 2024, women comprised approximately 15% of the military; Ghanaian women first began serving in the late 1950s

the military's inventory is a mix of older (mostly Soviet-era) and some newer armaments from such suppliers as China, Japan, Jordan, Türkiye, the UK, and the US; the government has committed to an increase in funding for equipment acquisitions, including armor, mechanized, and special forces capabilities for the Army, light attack aircraft for the Air Force, and more modern coastal patrol vessels for the Navy (2025)

estimated 15-20,000 active Armed Forces (2025)

note: over the past decade, Ghana has sought to increase the size of the GAF, particularly the Army, which has added a number of new units