A post on the microblogging platform X, formerly known as Twitter, has highlighted the alarming number of Ghanaians seeking to migrate overseas in search of better opportunities.
Derek Nii Laryea, a well-known digital entrepreneur, revealed that 63,375 residents of Ghana applied for a Canadian visa from January to April 2024. Remarkably, this figure for the first quarter of 2024 has already surpassed the total number of applicants for the entire year of 2023.
In 2023, a total of 62,151 Ghanaians applied for a Canadian visa, with 33,756 of these applications being approved.
In his tweet, Laryea stated, “Canada visa applications in Ghana. 2021: 9,109, 2023: 62,151. Of these, 33,756 were approved, reflecting a substantial rise in interest and acceptance rates. 2024 Jan to April: 63,375.
“The first four months surpassed the total number of applications for the entire previous year.
“Approval numbers for January and February were relatively strong, with 6,241 and 5,826 approvals respectively. However, March and April experienced significant drops, with approvals falling to 3,749 in March and further to 3,001 in April. It seems IRCC is tightening the criteria.”
This trend of mass migration is not limited to Canada. According to an earlier publication on GhanaWeb, the United States (US) Embassy in Ghana disclosed that 6,468 Ghanaians secured visas and traveled to pursue graduate programs at American universities for the 2022-2023 academic year.
The embassy noted that this was an unprecedented number, representing over a 31 percent increase in Ghanaian students pursuing graduate programs in the US compared to the 2021-2022 academic year, which saw 4,140 students.
Ghana’s struggling economy, poor living standards, and high unemployment rate have been identified as possible reasons driving Ghanaians, particularly the youth, to seek better opportunities overseas.
