Countries
Ghana border technology
Short answer
- Number of e-gates
- Six, as reported in December 2024 2,3. Thales lists 10 eGates at KIA in an undated statement 4
- Operator
- Ghana Immigration Service, as reported 1
- State partners named in reports
- Ghana Immigration Service, Ghana Aviation Authority and Ghana Airports Company Limited 2,3
- Status
- Live at KIA as of December 2024. Expansion to other airports and to land and sea borders announced 1
The KIA e-gates (December 2024)
On 3 December 2024 Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia commissioned six newly installed e-gates at KIA, as reported by the Ghana News Agency, reporter Godwill Arthur-Mensah 2. The Ghanaian Times reported the same six e-gates on 5 December 2024 3.
Graphic Online reported that Ghanaian citizens with a Ghana Card can use designated e-gates in place of an immigration officer 1. Diaspora members and foreign visitors can use the gates after they pre-register their biometric data and travel credentials 1,2.
The Ghana News Agency reported that the gates use artificial intelligence, biometrics and real-time data processing 2. Bawumia said the trip from landing to the exit could take as little as 15 minutes 2.
Who built and runs the system
Graphic Online reported Bawumia as saying the system was designed and built by Ghanaians. It reported that the system is fully owned and managed by the Ghana Immigration Service 1.
The Ghana News Agency and the Ghanaian Times described the project as a collaboration of the government of Ghana, through the Ghana Immigration Service, with the Ghana Aviation Authority and Ghana Airports Company Limited 2,3. The same two reports name a private company as a partner in developing the border control system. This site has not found an official record or a company statement that names that company in this role, so this page does not name it 2,3.
Bawumia said the project took four years to conceptualise, design, build and implement, as reported 2. The reports give no contract value or procurement record 1,23. This page does not state one.
The Ghana Card claim
Bawumia said the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) recognised the Ghana Card as a valid e-passport document, as reported by Graphic Online and the Ghana News Agency 1,2. The Ghanaian Times reported his statement that the card gives access to 197 countries and over 44,000 airports 3.
The reports attribute these statements to the Vice President, and this site has not confirmed them with ICAO 1,23.
The Thales e-Immigration statement
Thales, in an undated company statement titled Ghana's e-Immigration solution, says it is prime contractor and systems integrator for a Ghana Immigration Service project 4. It says it integrates the visa and border management solution and provides training and maintenance 4.
The statement lists biometric capture of all foreign nationals, fixed and mobile border management systems, digital visa and permit processing, an online portal for visa and permit requests, data centre and network upgrades, a central Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) and eGates 4.
Thales gives 6 main ports of entry and 10 eGate systems at KIA 4. The statement carries no date. The records reviewed do not say whether the Thales eGates are the gates commissioned in December 2024 1,24.
Plans announced
Graphic Online reported that the system would expand from KIA to all major airports, including Tamale and Kumasi, and to all land and sea borders 1. Comptroller General of Immigration Kwame Asuah Takyi said the gates would improve border management efficiency, as reported by the Ghana News Agency 2.
Common questions
Can Ghanaians use the e-gates at Kotoka airport?
Yes, according to Graphic Online. Ghanaian citizens with a Ghana Card can use designated e-gates in place of an immigration officer 1.
Can foreigners use Ghana's e-gates?
Foreign visitors and diaspora members can use them after they pre-register biometric data and travel credentials, as reported 1,2.
Who built Ghana's airport e-gates?
Graphic Online reported the Vice President as saying the system was designed and built by Ghanaians, and that it is fully owned and managed by the Ghana Immigration Service 1. In a separate, undated company statement, Thales describes itself as prime contractor for a GIS e-Immigration project that includes eGates at KIA. The records reviewed do not link the two 1,4.
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Sources
- Graphic Online: Bawumia unveils digital border control system and e-gates at Kotoka International Airport (3 December 2024)
- Ghana News Agency, Godwill Arthur-Mensah: Veep Bawumia unveils E-Gates at KIA, Ghanaians to enter country with Ghana Card (3 December 2024)
- Ghanaian Times: Veep inaugurates e-Gate at KIA (5 December 2024)
- Thales (company statement): Ghana's e-Immigration solution, Controlling borders to shape a bright future (undated, accessed 24 October 2026)
Related
- E-gates in Africa
Public records on automated border gates at African airports: Nigeria's rollout, South Africa's airport eGates and Sierra Leone's Lungi equipment.
- Nigeria border technology
Nigeria's ICAO PKD membership, IOM MIDAS, e-gates, the e-visa and landing card, and NIS border system training, from public records.
- What is border management technology?
Plain definitions of the systems African states use at borders: ePassports and the ICAO PKD, MIDAS, API and PNR, e-visas, ETAs and e-gates.
- How to read a border technology contract
A guide to the records behind border technology deals in Africa: who procured, who was awarded, scope, value, cessions, extensions, penalties and audits.
- Senegal border technology
Senegal's 2013 to 2015 biometric visa, the SNEDAI concession, e-gates and ABC kiosks at Blaise Diagne airport, and the ICAO PKD list, with sources.