Ghana Sends Teachers and Nurses to the Virgin Islands: Opportunity or Brain Drain? ‎

On Saturday, October 17, 2026, a Ghanaian delegation sat down in St Thomas with the government of the United States Virgin Islands. Their aim was an agreement to post Ghanaian teachers and nurses to the territory. The idea is attractive on paper. The details, which will decide whether it is good for Ghana, have not yet been published.

What has been agreed so far
The delegation came from the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Job Creation and the Office of the President. They held talks at Government House on St Thomas aimed at establishing a structured bilateral recruitment framework to deploy qualified Ghanaian nurses and teachers to fill critical positions across the Virgin Islands. The USVI Commissioner of Labor, Dr Gary Molloy, announced that a formal Memorandum of Understanding is due to be signed in Ghana in November by the Minister of Labour, Employment and Job Creation.

It is worth being precise about who the partner is. The Virgin Islands is a US territory with its own government under Governor Albert Bryan Jr., and the talks were with that territorial administration. This is not a deal with Washington. The arrangement supports the governor's initiatives to strengthen the territory's critical public sectors.

Importantly, the number of teachers and nurses to be recruited, eligibility requirements, application procedures, salary levels, contract conditions and the timeline for deployment are all to be disclosed only after the MoU is signed. So at this stage we have an intention but no terms.

Part of a bigger programme
This agreement fits a pattern. The Ghana Labour Exchange Programme (GLEP), launched in 2025, is a government initiative to facilitate legal, structured and ethical international job placements, aiming to reduce unemployment and boost foreign exchange earnings.

In January, Ghana sent 121 nurses and allied health professionals to Antigua as its first batch. In September, it signed an MoU with the City of Columbus, Ohio, with an emphasis on ethical recruitment and protecting the welfare and professional interests of health workers.

Later, 47 nurses left for a two-year placement in St Kitts and Nevis, and an official said Ghana had concluded bilateral agreements with about 14 countries seeking qualified Ghanaian health professionals. The Virgin Islands deal would be the first in this programme to include teachers.

The government's case
The argument for the programme rests on unemployment. The Health Minister has explained that it is meant to address the surplus of trained professionals in Ghana.

The nurses' association itself has called on government to give financial clearance for a backlog of over 80,000 trained nurses and midwives who are unemployed at home. If that number is right, placing some of them abroad lets them earn, gain experience and send money home. Officials describe the St Kitts placement as a chance to return with enhanced knowledge and clinical experience.

The concerns
The unions raised the objections early. After the Antigua departure, the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) said there had been no official communication or engagement before the nurses were recruited and approved. It also warned that many of those sent were highly experienced professionals, which could create a gap in the local health system. The government apologized and promised future consultation.

This is the heart of the matter. Ghana has two problems at once: trained nurses who cannot find jobs and wards that have lost experienced staff. Exporting the first group is sensible. Losing the second is harmful. Earlier reporting showed that critical care nurses and other experienced staff have been leaving for higher pay abroad, with some nurses saying they could earn more than seven times as much in the UK.

Ghana also appears on the WHO list of 55 countries with low numbers of nurses per head of population. A research study of nurse managers in northern Ghana found that inadequate pay, limited career growth and lack of access to technology drive emigration, and that the effects include heavier workloads and fewer skilled nurses.

For teachers, I could not find comparable public figures on unemployment or shortages. That is a gap in its own right. Before teachers are sent abroad, the public should be told whether there is a surplus of trained teachers, and in which subjects and regions.

What the MoU should contain
Based on the pattern so far, I would argue that the November agreement should do six things.

Publish the terms. Pay, contract length, housing, visas, professional licensing and recruitment costs should all be public.

Ban recruitment fees. Workers should not pay agents to get these jobs.

Use fixed terms with a return path. The St Kitts model of a two-year placement is better than open-ended migration, provided there is a real plan for reintegration into the Ghanaian service.

Protect critical specialities. Experienced theatre, critical-care and midwifery staff, and teachers in scarce subjects, should not be released without replacements.

Consult the unions. The nurses' association was not asked in January, and teachers' associations should be involved from the start this time.

Track outcomes. Government should report how many left, how many returned, what they earn, and what the programme brings in.

The bottom line
An agreement that gives unemployed Ghanaian professionals decent jobs under fair conditions would be a gain. An agreement that quietly draws away the experienced staff the country depends on would be a loss, however it is described. Everything now depends on the terms.

Ghanaians should read the MoU when it is signed, and the government should publish it.

Mustapha Bature Sallama
Medical/Science communicator, Private Investigator, Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Analysis,United States Institute of Peace (USIP), [email protected] +233555275880.

References
Coleman Publications. (2026, October). Ghana to post teachers and nurses to U.S. Virgin Islands under proposed bilateral agreement. https://colemanpublications.com/education/ghana-to-post-teachers-and-nurses-to-u-s-virgin-islands-under-proposed-bilateral-agreement/

GBC Ghana Online. (2026, October). Ghana to deploy teachers, nurses to U.S. Virgin Islands under new proposed bilateral agreement. https://www.gbcghanaonline.com/general/ghana-to-deploy-teachers-nurses-to-u-s-virgin-islands-under-new-proposed-bilateral-agreement/2026/

Ghana News Agency. (2026, January 26). Ghana sends over 120 nurses to Antigua. https://gna.org.gh/2026/01/ghana-sends-over-120-nurses-to-antigua/

Graphic Online. (2026, October). Ghana to post teachers, nurses to U.S. Virgin Islands under new bilateral accord. https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/ghana-to-post-teachers-nurses-to-u-s-virgin-islands-under-new-bilateral-accord.html

Graphic Online. (2026). 47 nurses depart for St Kitts and Nevis. https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/ghana-news-47-nurses-depart-for-st-kitts-and-nevis.html

Ibrahim, M. M., Salisu, W. J., & Abdulai, A.-M. (n.d.). Determinants and mitigating factors of brain drain among Ghanaian nurses: Insights from nurse managers in northern Ghana—A qualitative inquiry. https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/items/6ee573ac-3211-4ed7-a82b-cba3bca0df6f

MyJoyOnline. (2026, October). Ghana, US Virgin Islands agree to sign an MoU in November to recruit nurses and teachers. https://www.myjoyonline.com/ghana-us-virgin-islands-agree-to-sign-an-mou-in-november-to-recruit-nurses-and-teachers/

Rainbow Radio. (2026, January 27). We were not consulted on the Antigua labour export, but the government has apologised – GRNMA. https://rainbowradioonline.com/2026/01/27/we-were-not-consulted-on-the-antigua-labour-export-but-the-government-has-apologised-grnma/

Citi Newsroom. (2023, June). Patients in danger as Ghanaian nurses head for UK's NHS. https://citinewsroom.com/2023/06/patients-in-danger-as-ghanaian-nurses-head-for-uks-nhs/