Pan Africanism

Pan-Africanism is an ideology of global significance and influence. It is impactful across both the African continent and the US, as exemplified by the Civil Rights movement in the late 1960s.

In this article, we will be exploring the history behind pan-Africanism and taking a deep dive into the significance behind the idea, some key thinkers involved and some issues it has met along the way.

Pan Africanism definition

Before we get started, let's briefly outline what we mean by Pan-Africanism. Pan-Africanism is often described as a form of Pan-nationalism and is an ideology which advocates for fostering solidarity among African people to ensure economic and political progress.

Historian, Hakim Adi, describes the key features of Pan-Africanism as:

Principles of Pan Africanism

Pan-Africanism has two main principles: establishing an African nation and sharing a common culture. These two ideas lay the basis of the pan-Africanism ideology.

• An African nation

The main idea of pan-Africanism is to have a nation that contains African people, whether that be people from Africa or Africans from around the world.

• Common culture

Pan-Africanists believe that all Africans have a common culture, and it is through this common culture that an African nation is formed. They also believe in advocacy for African rights and the protection of African culture and history.

Examples of Pan Africanism

Pan-Africanism has a long and rich history, let's take a look at a few examples of key thinkers and influences on this ideology.

Early examples of Pan-Africanism

The idea of Pan-Africanism was established in the late 19th century in the United States of America. Martin Delany, an abolitionist, believed that a nation should be formed for African Americans that was separate from the US and established the term ‘Africa for Africans’.

20th-century Pan-African thinkers

However, it can be argued that W.E.B. Du Bois, a civil rights activist, was the true father of pan-Africanism in the 20th century. He believed that “the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the colour line”², in the US and Africa, where Africans faced the negative repercussions of European colonialism.

Later, in the 1940s Pan-Africanism became a prominent and influential ideology across Africa. Kwame Nkrumah, a prominent political leader in Ghana, presented the idea that if Africans were to unite politically and economically, this would reduce the impact of European colonisation. This theory contributed to the independence movement away from British colonial rule in Ghana in 1957.

The idea of pan-Africanism rose in popularity in the U.S. during the 1960s due to the increasing momentum of the civil rights movement which empowered African Americans to celebrate their heritage and culture.

Pan-African Congress

In the 20th century, pan-Africanists wanted to create a formal political institution, which came to be known as the Pan-African Congress. It held a series of 8 meetings throughout the world, and aimed to address issues that Africa faced as a result of European colonisation.

Members of the African community around the world joined each other in London in 1900 for the establishment of the Pan-African Congress. In 1919, after the end of World War 1, another meeting took place in Paris, which included 57 representatives from 15 countries. Their first aim was to petition the Versailles Peace Conference and advocate that Africans should be partially governed by their own people. Meetings of the Pan-African Congress began to decrease as more African countries started to gain independence. Rather, the Organisation of African Unity was formed in 1963 to promote the integration of Africa socially, economically and politically into the world.

The African Union and Pan Africanism

In 1963, Africa’s first post-independence continental institution was born, the Organization of African Unity (OAU). Their focus was on uniting Africa and creating a pan-African vision based on unity, equality, justice and freedom. The founding fathers of the OAU wanted to introduce a new age where colonisation and apartheid were ended and sovereignty and international cooperation were promoted.

Julius Nyerere

Julius Nyerere was a Tanzanian anti-colonial activist who was the Prime Minister of Tanganyika and the first President of Tanzania after its independence from Britain. He was known to be an African nationalist and African socialist and advocated for British independence using non-violent protests. His work was inspired by the American and French Revolution as well as the Indian independence movement. He sought to decolonize and unite indigenous Africans and the minority Asians and Europeans in the Tanzanian state.

Fig. 3 Julius Nyerere

Nyerere also believed in racial equality and was not hostile towards Europeans. He knew they were not all colonialists and, when leading his nation, he portrayed these ideas within his government by ensuring that it respected all cultures and religions.

Problems of Pan Africanism

As with all major political and social movements, Pan Africanism also came across several problems.

First was a clash in leadership aims.

Another criticism of the Pan African project, exemplified by the African Union, was that it was furthering the objectives of its leaders rather than those of the African people.

Other problems of the Pan African projects have come from outside Africa. The new scramble for Africa, for example, is causing new military, economic interventions and interferences that are re-directing the focus away from what benefits the people of Africa.

Lastly, there is an ongoing issue in African universities, where, to get research funding, academics largely depend on consultancy firms from the West³. This obviously brings financial resources to the universities. However, it acts like academic colonisation: it dictates the subjects that are essential to research for financial sustainability while preventing local academics from specialising and creating original, locally relevant content.