Kwame Nkrumah and Pan-Africanism in West Africa

This chapter will retrace the history of Pan-Africanist thinking in West Africa, illustrating how different ideas and conceptions eventually converged into Kwame Nkrumah’s thinking. Starting from the first abolitionist movements that considered West Africa as one of the centers of early Pan-Africanism, this chapter will illustrate the thoughts and actions of the main thinkers and leaders that opened the way to Nkrumah. The chapter will then offer the perspective on Pan-Africanist thinking in the region following the demise of the Ghanaian Pan-Africanist, examining its evolution until today.