Accra, Ghana – October 7, 2025: Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama will deliver the keynote address at the 80th anniversary commemoration of the Fifth Pan-African Congress on October 20-21, 2025, marking a pivotal moment in Africa’s pursuit of reparative justice. The international conference, themed “From Historical Memory to Economic and Political Justice – Uniting Pan-African Progressive Forces,” represents the continent’s most significant reparations gathering in decades.
Speaking at a press launch in Accra, veteran journalist Kwesi Pratt Jr., representing the organizing Pan-African Progressive Front (PPF), announced that President Mahama’s participation holds exceptional significance given his official role as the African Union’s Champion for Reparations. The gathering will bring together delegates from over 50 African and Caribbean nations at the University of Ghana’s Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER).
The timing of this continental convergence carries profound geopolitical implications as Africa navigates a rapidly shifting global landscape. The conference occurs amid France’s complete military withdrawal from West Africa, which was finalized in July 2025 with the handover of its last military bases in Senegal. This withdrawal marked the end of France’s permanent military presence across the region, following earlier departures from Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Chad.
Alliance of Sahel States Expected to Participate
The October gathering promises significant participation from revolutionary African leadership. Burkina Faso’s President Ibrahim Traoré is expected to address the assembly alongside other Alliance of Sahel States leadership. Efforts are also underway to secure participation from Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, emphasizing the international solidarity dimension of the conference.
Traoré’s potential appearance represents more than symbolic solidarity—it signals a generational shift toward leaders who prioritize African sovereignty over Western approval. His military government, along with Mali and Niger, has systematically dismantled French neocolonial structures and expelled Western military forces. The Alliance of Sahel States has emerged as a counter-hegemonic force challenging traditional Western influence in the region.
The presence of such leadership underscores the conference’s transformative rather than merely commemorative nature. The gathering builds on the legacy of the original Fifth Pan-African Congress held in Manchester from October 15-21, 1945, which brought together figures like Kwame Nkrumah, Jomo Kenyatta, and W.E.B. Du Bois and catalyzed Africa’s liberation movements.
Continental Reparations Framework Takes Shape
The conference unfolds against the backdrop of unprecedented momentum for African reparations claims. The African Union designated 2025 as the “Year of Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations” and extended this focus into a full Decade of Reparations from 2026 to 2036. This represents the AU’s most sustained institutional commitment to pursuing reparative justice from former colonial powers.
President Mahama has been central to this continental effort. At the AU’s July coordination meeting in Malabo, he declared that “Africa’s call for reparative justice is no longer a whisper—it is a unified demand grounded in historical truth, moral clarity and our unwavering commitment to dignity”. His advocacy has contributed to the AU’s decision to establish a Commission of Experts on Reparations and a Reference Group of Legal Experts.
The September 2025 Africa-CARICOM Summit in Addis Ababa, themed “Transcontinental Partnership in Pursuit of Reparatory Justice,” demonstrated growing unity between African and Caribbean nations in pursuing reparations. The summit established frameworks for coordinated advocacy and joint pressure on former colonial powers, particularly European nations.
The October conference will conclude with the adoption of the Accra Declaration of Pan-African Progressive Forces, which is expected to outline Africa’s development strategy for decades to come. The declaration will likely include demands for debt cancellation, restitution of looted African artifacts, and the creation of new economic models that prioritize African sovereignty over neocolonial dependency.
As Kwesi Pratt emphasized, this gathering represents “a positive re-gathering of Africans to reassert their rights in a world shaped against their dreams of freedom from all forms of poverty, devastation, and the unbridled exploitation of their resources”. The conference promises to determine whether Africa’s reparations movement evolves from moral appeal to material demand, backed by the collective power of a continent increasingly willing to challenge Western dominance.
The October assembly marks 80 years since the Manchester Congress that inspired Africa’s independence movements. With revolutionary leaders, established heads of state, and civil society movements converging in Accra, the gathering may produce the institutional framework necessary for Africa’s long-delayed economic emancipation.
