It is believed that Jewish communities had an established a presence in Ghana since ancient times. Migrations into western Africa by Jewish traders, merchants, and other groups have been documented by Arab, Jewish, and European travelers and historians. Members of the House of Israel document their arrival in Ghana via a Jewish migration across the Sahara desert, into Mali, where there has been a documented Jewish community in Timbuktu, and further along through the Ivory Coast and into Ghana.

The Sefwi tribe has established ties to worldwide Jewry in the late 20th century and have thus received educational materials about modern Judaism and vital texts such as Tanakhs, Siddurim, etc. The community traces its return to normative Judaism to an individual known as Aaron Ahomtre Toakyirafa. In 1977, Toakyirafa had a vision that the Sefwi people, a tribe of which he was a member, were one of the Lost tribes of Israel. He believed that the Sefwi practiced rituals and had a theology that was unlike that of the surrounding population. He concluded that these customs were of Hebraic origin. They avoided the consumption of pork, or pig-like animals, and observed a day of rest on Saturdays, which coincides with the Jewish Shabbat. Additionally, males were circumsized 8 days after birth, a custom that is identically practiced by Jews the world over. The custom of separation of man and woman during female menstruation was also observed among members of the Sefwi tribe. More recently, the community, largely based in Sefwi Wiaswo and Sefwi Sui and several tribal elders of the Sefwi have begun exploring the possibility of a Jewish ancestry.