The Duke of Edinburgh visits Nigeria and Ghana

Nigeria

His Royal Highness visited Nigeria to attend The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award Gold Event and Forum, hosted by The International Award for Young People Nigeria. 

On arrival in Abuja, Nigeria, The Duke met the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency Mr Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The Forum meets every three years and convenes almost 200 young people from more than 50 countries over the week alongside hundreds of leaders delivering the Award globally. During the event, His Royal Highness delivered the keynote address.

The international gathering took part in an intensive three-day youth leadership programme, before joining the International Award’s triennial Forum focused on expanding access to the Award globally.

His Royal Highness also visited a girls’ secondary school in Lagos to hear about their experiences of participating in the Award, which places a strong emphasis on skills developed beyond the classroom, such as teamwork, communication skills, resilience and problem-solving.

Ghana

Travelling on to Ghana, The Duke of Edinburgh began with a visit to the Aburi Education College and Kindergarten Schools, where His Royal Highness saw trainee teachers learning play-based methods. The Duke joined a Kindergarten class during a lesson and heard about the school’s innovations.

At the Aburi Botanical Gardens, His Royal Highness was given an overview of the gardens and heard about UK-Ghana collaboration on initiatives in support of sustainable development.

 During the visit, The Duke planted a tree near to a Silver Oak planted by His Majesty The King, as Prince of Wales, and a Mahogony tree, planted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1961.

At the Affinity Bank Training Centre, His Royal Highness met young entrepreneurs involved in in the Commonwealth Start-Up Fellowship (CSF), a programme supporting high-impact startups from across Commonwealth countries to scale their enterprises.

Later, during a special event hosted by the British High Commission, The Duke watched a performance of Kofi Adinkra’s ‘The Black Star (The Teacher of Africa)’ and joined a discussion on UK-Ghana collaboration in the theatre industry. 

The Duke visited the resting place of Kwame Nkrumah, the first Prime Minister and former President, and laid a wreath at the tombs of Dr Nkrumah and his wife, Fathia Nkrumah, at the Kwame Nkrumah National Museum.

At Jubilee House, The Duke met The President of the Republic of Ghana, His Excellency Mr John Dramani Mahama and traditional leaders, to foster deeper diplomatic and cultural ties. As part of this, they watched a cultural performance together. 

To celebrate the transformative impact of sport ahead of the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, His Royal Highness visited Ghanaian players from the Women’s Basketball team at a practice game and met retired professional Boxer Mr Azumah ‘Zoom Zoom’ Nelson and the Boxing Team at a Boxing session at the Accra Sports Stadium. 

The Duke also watched a bowls game and met the Bowls and Parabowls teams. Following the official launch of the Ghana Bowls Federation earlier this year, Ghana is now positioned to participate in international competitions, including the Commonwealth Games.

Concluding the visit, The Duke of Edinburgh met invited guests at His Majesty The King’s Birthday Reception, cutting the cake at the annual diplomatic event.