Australia’s outgoing High Commissioner to Ghana, Her Excellency Berenice Owen Jones, has described her four-year posting in Accra as one that changed her personally and professionally, saying Ghana gave her far more than she expected.
In a farewell op ed titled Ghana gave me more than I expected, Owen Jones reflected on her diplomatic tour, Ghana’s democratic resilience, the strength of its people, and the growing relationship between Accra and Canberra.
Owen Jones was appointed Australia’s High Commissioner to Ghana in July 2022. She was also accredited to Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. Before her Ghana posting, she served as Australia’s Ambassador to Morocco and had also been posted to Paris.
She is a career officer with Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and has served in Canberra as Director of the Diplomatic Academy and Director of the Diplomatic Security Branch.
In her farewell message, she said serving in Ghana had been an “immense honour,” adding that over the last four years she had come to know “a country of exceptional richness,” not only because of its natural resources but because of “the strength, creativity and resilience of its people.”
She noted that she arrived in Ghana as the world was still emerging from the COVID 19 pandemic, and watched the country deal with economic pressure, conduct elections, and remain a source of stability in a region where several neighbours had faced serious political disruption.
According to her, what stayed with her most was not only the work of diplomacy, but the people she encountered across the country.
“Each conversation taught me something I would not have understood from a briefing paper,” she wrote, referring to her engagements with ministers, traditional leaders, entrepreneurs, artists, students, academics, market traders and small business owners.
Owen Jones said Ghana’s economic difficulties gave her a closer understanding of resilience, especially among ordinary citizens and business owners who continued to work, provide for their families and build their future despite rising costs and infrastructure challenges.
She said what impressed her was that Ghana’s resilience had not turned into resignation. Rather, she observed that the country’s democratic institutions, commitment to governance and role in West Africa had remained firm.
“Ghana’s institutions have held. Its commitment to democratic governance has held,” she wrote.
The outgoing High Commissioner also highlighted the importance of the Ghana Australia relationship, describing Ghana as a trusted partner for Australia in a region of growing strategic and economic importance.
The Australian High Commission says Australia and Ghana share priorities around democracy, peace and security, the rules-based order, the Commonwealth and the United Nations. It also points to Australia’s support for Ghana’s development priorities through the Direct Aid Program, Australia Awards scholarships and multilateral contributions.
Owen Jones said the relationship between both countries had strong foundations built on practical cooperation, shared interests and people to people ties.
Mining, she said, remained central to the relationship. She noted that Ghana’s status as a leading gold producer aligned naturally with Australia’s mining expertise, adding that Australian companies in Ghana had taken seriously their responsibility to host communities through investments in skills, safety and environmental standards.
She also pointed to education, community development and agriculture as important pillars of cooperation. She cited the Australia Awards programme, the Direct Aid Programme, and the opening of an office in Accra by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research as examples of work that could have long term benefits for Ghana.
On Ghana’s future, Owen Jones expressed optimism, describing the country as having “a resilient democracy, extraordinary human capital, abundant natural resources, and a diaspora that punches well above its weight globally.”
Her farewell note was also deeply personal. She recalled the warmth of Ghanaians, the country’s music and visual arts, and the individual connections that made her posting feel human.
She said Ghana did not allow her to remain distant.
“Ghana does not let you stay at arm’s length, and I’m grateful for that,” she wrote.
Owen Jones also reflected on helping raise funds through the Melbourne Cup charity ball for The Children’s Heart Foundation Ghana, an effort that helped fund surgery for two children in Accra this year. She said that experience meant more to her than almost anything on her official calendar.
As she prepares to leave, Owen Jones said Ghana had changed her.
“I leave a better diplomat for having been here,” she wrote, adding that she was leaving “genuinely changed by this country” and by the people who welcomed her.
By Wisdom Sarfo
