The Ghanaian government has deferred South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s planned visit to the West African country amid xenophobic attacks. 

Felix Kwakye Ofosu, a spokesman for the Ghanaian government, in an interview with the BBC on Tuesday said Mr Ramaphosa’s visit to Ghana was defered due to lingering xenophobic attacks.

”We sent them a communication indicating that it would be best to defer the visit in view of the present climate around xenophobia,” Mr Ofosu said.

The South African president planned a state visit to Ghana in the first week of August.

However, South Africa’s presidential spokesman Vincent Magwenya dismissed reports that Mr Ramaphosa was on a state visit to Ghana.

“We are disappointed with the manner in which this matter has been handled and reported because it does not reflect the true nature of the development,” Mr Magwenya said.

The South African spokesperson explained that Mr Ramaphosa was scheduled to visit Ghana based on a binational arrangement where South Africa hosted a former Ghanaian president in 2024.

“The date had long been agreed that Ghana will host the South Africa-Ghana Binational Commission. This is a regular meeting of the structure that manages the cooperation between the two countries.

“The last meeting was held in 2024, and that meeting was hosted by South Africa. It follows that Ghana was to host the next iteration of the BNC,” Mr Magwenya said.

Lingering xenophobic attacks have seen hundreds of Ghanaians, Nigerians, Malawians and other African nationals evacuated from South Africa.