Canada and Ghana sign letter of intent; Nigeria asks Senate for US$20.5bn in loans

By the Citi Sighs Intelligence Desk — Toronto, October 30, 2026

TORONTO — Canada and Ghana signed a letter of intent in Ottawa on Oct. 26, Ecofin Agency reported, listing aviation, rail, trade, education, agriculture, mining, renewable energy and artificial intelligence among areas for closer cooperation, according to GhanaWeb. A day later, on Oct. 27, Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu asked the Senate to approve US$20,517,755,901 and €1,045,083,643 in new external loans under a 2026–2027 supplementary borrowing plan, Premium Times reported.

For a Canadian founder selling into West Africa, or a Ghanaian or Nigerian firm looking at Canada, this week also set the calendar for November. Canada's federal budget lands on Nov. 5, Ghana's 2027 budget on Nov. 12, and the Bank of Ghana's comment window on new bank liquidity rules closes on Nov. 30. For Ghanaian and Nigerian founders eyeing Canada, the Ottawa talks also touched on jobs and skills for young Ghanaians, and Canada's budget may carry immigration and trade measures. Here are the five moves that matter, each with our view of why.

1. Canada–Ghana: a letter of intent, not a treaty

Ghana's Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa visited Ottawa on Oct. 26 for talks with Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand, Global Affairs Canada said in advance of the visit. According to GhanaWeb, the two ministers signed a letter of intent setting out areas of cooperation, and the two sides will begin discussions on a possible defence agreement. Ecofin Agency reported that the document was signed on Oct. 26 and also lists trade facilitation and raw-material processing.

In separate talks with Canada's Secretary of State for International Development, Randeep Sarai, Ablakwa said Canada would give technical support to set up Ghana's Women's Development Bank. The two sides also agreed a youth skills partnership covering digital literacy, standardised certification for international jobs, energy transition and vocational training, Citi Newsroom reported.

Global Affairs Canada puts two-way merchandise trade at $752 million in 2025 (the page does not name the currency) and ranks Ghana eighth among Canada's African trading partners for goods, according to its release.

Why it matters (our view): a letter of intent signals priorities. It does not change tariffs, tax or visa rules, and we found no published text or timelines. Firms in the named sectors now have a clearer sense of where official attention may go.

2. Nigeria: a US$20.5 billion borrowing request goes to the Senate

Senate President Godswill Akpabio read Tinubu's letter at plenary on Oct. 27. The money would go mainly to infrastructure such as power, transport and health facilities, along with farming, schooling, security and public-finance reforms, BusinessDay reported. Akpabio referred it to the committee on local and foreign debts, working with the appropriations committee, and asked for a report within one week, according to Premium Times; the state broadcaster Voice of Nigeria and BusinessDay also name the finance committee. Voice of Nigeria also reports Akpabio as saying an external borrowing plan had been approved earlier.

The request has drawn pushback. Senator Victor Umeh questioned how earlier loans had been used, saying contractors on capital projects remain unpaid, Premium Times reported. Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has asked for project-by-project details, Nairametrics reported. In an essay published Oct. 29, Tinubu argued that loans should be judged by what they build, naming the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway, the Sokoto–Badagry Superhighway, grid upgrades and Lagos port modernisation, Nairametrics reported.

Why it matters (our view): the Senate has not yet voted on this request. If it passes, it points to a pipeline of engineering, power and transport work, but contract timing will depend on which lenders sign and when.

3. Ghana: the 2027 budget arrives Nov. 12

Deputy Finance Minister Thomas Nyarko Ampem said on Oct. 29 that Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson will present the 2027 budget to Parliament on Nov. 12, and that it will set out the government's New Economy agenda, MyJoyOnline reported. He spoke at the launch of the Ghana Statistical Service's Ghana in Numbers 2025 report.

At the same event, Bank of Ghana Governor Johnson Pandit Asiama said the central bank is developing a directive on the use of artificial intelligence in the financial sector. He gave no date, Citi Newsroom reported.

Why it matters (our view): the budget is where President John Mahama's US$10 billion nine-sector plan, which we covered on Oct. 28, should get figures. Tax measures in it will matter to any firm invoicing Ghanaian clients.

4. Ghana: banks face a 30-day liquidity test, comments due Nov. 30

The Bank of Ghana's exposure draft Liquidity Coverage Ratio Directive, dated October 2026, would require banks licensed under Act 930 to hold unencumbered high-quality liquid assets at least equal to their net cash outflows over 30 days, a minimum ratio of 100%. The directive would take effect on Sept. 1, 2027, after a one-year pilot with quarterly reporting. Comments are due by Nov. 30, 2026, by email to bsdletters@bog.gov.gh, the draft says.

Why it matters (our view): fintechs and other firms that partner with Ghanaian banks may see those banks plan their balance sheets around this rule well before 2027.

5. Canada: the federal budget lands Nov. 5

Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne told the House of Commons on Oct. 20 that the budget will be tabled on Nov. 5, CTV News reported. It will be the second budget under Prime Minister Mark Carney, according to Canadian Press reporting.

Why it matters (our view): trade-diversification, export-support, tax and immigration measures are the lines to read. They follow the Bank of Canada's Oct. 28 increase in its policy rate to 2.5%, according to the Bank's decision text, which we covered yesterday.

The case for and against

The case for: corridor ties are getting more structure. A signed letter of intent, Canadian help for a Ghanaian development bank and a youth skills partnership give firms named sectors to work with. Nigeria's government says its loans are for infrastructure that could raise growth, and Ghana's draft liquidity rule sets a clear, dated standard for its banks.

The case against: we found no published text or timelines for the letter of intent and, as far as we can tell, no binding commitments. In Nigeria, a senator and a former vice-president are questioning how past loans were spent and want project-level detail. Until Nov. 5 and Nov. 12, the budgets' contents are not public.

What we could not verify

• The text of the Canada–Ghana letter of intent. We found no Canadian government readout of the signing; details come from Ghanaian and regional press. We could not confirm whether it is binding.
• A naira equivalent of Nigeria's request, and its list of lenders and projects; neither was in the reports we read. Outlets round the euro figure as €1.045 billion or €1.05 billion, and some headline a combined US$21.7 billion. We could not establish how this supplementary request relates to the earlier budget approval Akpabio referred to.
• A Ministry of Finance notice of Ghana's Nov. 12 budget date, and the growth and inflation targets some outlets attribute to unnamed sources.
• A timeline for the Bank of Ghana's AI directive; the currency of the $752 million trade figure; and a cedi figure for Ghana's US$10 billion plan, which we have not seen published.

Disclosure: Citi Sighs has no commercial relationship with any company or institution named in this article. This article is general information, not tax, legal or investment advice.