Statement by Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah President of the Republic of Ghana, on Certain Aspects of African Unity.

Kwame Nkrumah on African Unity

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Nkrumah Calls for Pan-African Unity in 1962 Address on the Volta River Project

First edition of President Kwame Nkrumah’s address to the National Assembly of Ghana on January 20, 1962, delivered during the signing of the Master Agreement for the Volta River Project. In this speech, one of the clearest expositions of his Pan-Africanist philosophy, Nkrumah articulates Ghana’s position on continental unity and calls for the political and economic integration of Africa.

Speaking on the eve of Ghana’s industrial transformation, Nkrumah uses the Volta River Project as a metaphor for Africa’s potential collective strength. He urges the pooling of economic and technical resources across national boundaries, warning that continued disunity leaves African nations “at the mercy of colonialism and imperialism.” His threefold program for African unification includes: continental economic planning, a joint military command, and a coordinated foreign policy. Anticipating the creation of the Organization of African Unity, he argues that sovereignty should be partially surrendered “in the interest of African unity,” and that only integration could secure Africa’s development and defense.

Nkrumah’s legacy as a Pan-African visionary and anti-colonial leader places him among the most influential political figures of 20th-century Africa.

Printed by the Ghana Government Press, copies were likely limited in distribution to members of Parliament and diplomatic missions. Rare in commerce, OCLC records only one copy in America, at Columbia.

Price: $350.00