How Ghana and Nigeria helped South Africa with millions of dollars in the fight against apartheid

• Ghana and Nigeria supported South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle through funding, asylum and diplomatic backing.

• Ghana provided a sanctuary in Accra and institutional support under Kwame Nkrumah.

• Nigeria funded liberation movements, led UN advocacy and imposed a costly oil embargo against apartheid South Africa.

When apartheid was formally entrenched in South Africa in 1948, the system institutionalised racial segregation and stripped Black South Africans of political rights, land ownership and basic dignity.

The global response was uneven. While Western powers such as the United States and the United Kingdom moved cautiously due to Cold War alliances and economic interests, some African states acted decisively.

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Among the most committed were Ghana and Nigeria. Their support went beyond rhetoric.

It included direct financial contributions, diplomatic protection, education opportunities, and sustained political advocacy at the highest levels of international diplomacy.

This is the story of how two West African nations helped finance and sustain the struggle against apartheid.

Ghana’s anti-apartheid stance was rooted in the ideology of its first president, Dr Kwame Nkrumah.

As a leading Pan-Africanist, Nkrumah viewed South Africa’s liberation as a continental responsibility rather than a distant political issue.

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Under his leadership, Ghana became one of the earliest African states to openly support liberation movements across the continent, including the African National Congress (ANC).

Ghana’s capital, Accra, quickly emerged as a strategic base for exiled political activists and liberation organisations.

Following the Sharpeville Massacre on 21 March 1960, where 69 unarmed protesters were killed by apartheid police, Ghana intensified its involvement.

South African liberation movements, including factions of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), established operational bases in Accra and other African capitals to coordinate international advocacy and fundraising.

Ghana provided not only political shelter but also a platform for coordination between African liberation movements and global allies.

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Under Nkrumah, Ghana extended financial assistance to liberation movements, including the ANC.

The Bureau of African Affairs reportedly helped channel resources to support training, operations and international engagement.

The state also provided travel documentation to South African activists whose passports had been revoked by the apartheid regime, allowing them to participate in global advocacy networks.

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Nelson Mandela and other ANC figures are documented to have visited Ghana during this period to receive support that helped sustain organisational activities in exile.

Ghanaian universities also offered educational opportunities to South African exiles, providing academic training and safe residence during periods of political displacement.

Beyond state structures, Ghana established the Ghana National Committee Against Apartheid around 1967.

The committee sustained anti-apartheid advocacy through public education, international engagement and civil society mobilisation.

Even as later governments softened their diplomatic stance towards Pretoria, civil society organisations maintained consistent opposition to apartheid, preserving Ghana’s reputation as an early moral voice in the struggle.

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Nigeria’s support for the anti-apartheid movement began shortly after independence. On 4 April 1961, Prime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa sent a formal message of solidarity to the ANC, marking one of the earliest official endorsements of the liberation struggle by an African government.

Nigeria also used its position within the Commonwealth to push for South Africa’s diplomatic isolation.

From the early 1960s, Nigeria began direct financial assistance to both the ANC and the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC).

By 1970, this support had developed into a structured annual subvention of approximately $5 million, sustained over several years.

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This made Nigeria one of the most significant financial contributors to the liberation movement on the African continent.

Nigeria also imposed a long-standing oil embargo on apartheid South Africa. Over time, this policy is estimated to have cost the country approximately $41 billion in lost revenue.

This decision was particularly significant given Nigeria’s own post-civil war economic recovery challenges. The embargo reflected a deliberate prioritisation of political principle over economic gain.

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Nigeria’s solidarity extended beyond government allocations. Through the Southern African Relief Fund, contributions were mobilised from across society, including students, traders and civil servants.

By mid-1977, the fund had reportedly raised $10.5 million within six months. The federal government, under General Olusegun Obasanjo, contributed $3.7 million, alongside a personal donation of $3,000.

This system of contributions became popularly associated with the “Mandela Tax”, reflecting widespread public participation in the anti-apartheid effort.

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Nigeria established the National Committee Against Apartheid (NACAP) in 1960, one of the earliest institutional frameworks globally dedicated to anti-apartheid advocacy.

NACAP’s mandate included public education campaigns across schools, universities, media platforms and marketplaces.

It played a key role in shaping public understanding of apartheid as a global injustice requiring collective action.

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Through state and diplomatic channels, Nigeria provided scholarships to South African students and supported their relocation and education in Nigerian institutions.

In some cases, South African exiles were issued Nigerian travel documents, allowing them to access international platforms when their own citizenship had been revoked.

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Nigeria also played a leading diplomatic role at the United Nations, chairing the UN Special Committee Against Apartheid for approximately 30 years, the longest tenure of any country in that position.

Nelson Mandela later acknowledged Nigeria’s contribution during his visit in 1990, recognising the country’s long-standing financial and political support for the ANC.

Following South Africa’s transition to democracy, Nigeria also supported the international process that reintegrated South Africa into the global community, including sponsorship of key United Nations resolutions in 1994.

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The contributions of Ghana and Nigeria to the anti-apartheid struggle were extensive, structured and costly.

Ghana provided ideological leadership, political sanctuary and institutional support for exiled liberation movements.

Nigeria delivered sustained financial assistance, large-scale economic sacrifice and long-term diplomatic leadership at the United Nations.

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Together, these efforts represented one of the most significant expressions of African solidarity in modern history.