Africa Marks Liberation Day Anniversary

Added: 2026-05-26

[00:00:00]A day to celebrate freedom and a moment of reflection. On May 25th, 1963, leaders from 32 newly independent nations gathered in Adis Sababa, Ethiopia, and formed the Organization of African Unity. They had a clear mission to use their combined political weight to support the countries still fighting for freedom, mainly in Southern Africa.

[00:00:26]To understand the day's significance, we need to go back to 1884 when European powers gathered for the Balin Conference. Without a single African present, they divided the entire continent among themselves. This period is known as the scramble for Africa, which paved the way for colonialism.

[00:00:47]By the beginning of the 20th century, nearly 90% of Africa was under European rule. Colonialism changed everything as European powers took control of fat lands, mining sites and rubber plantations.

[00:01:02]The impact was devastating. Local African cultures were suppressed.

[00:01:07]Families were separated by artificial borders and African people were treated as secondclass citizens in their own land. Africans were also rounded up for forced labor. But African people never stopped resisting and after World War II, the push for freedom became unstoppable. Most of the colonial powers had been exhausted by the war and the level of political consciousness among Africans had increased. Leaders and ordinary citizens stood up demanding the right to govern themselves.

[00:01:39]Ghana, then known as Gold Coast, became the first subsaharan nation to break free in 1957.

[00:01:47]Its leader Kwamin Krummer famously said that Ghana's independence was meaningless unless the rest of Africa was free. It took decades of struggle but the OAU achieved its goal.

[00:01:59]Currently, every single country on the continent is independent. The OAU later evolved into the current African Union.

[00:02:09]Africa Liberation Day remembers the bravery of those who fought to end colonialism while also looking forward to a self-reliant unified future. Daniel Arab, CGTN.

[00:02:22]>> Let's go deeper into this with our guests today. Here with me in the studio is Stephen Yaga who is a lecturer at the Department of Diplomacy and International Studies at the University of Nairobi. And joining us live via Zoom from Ara in Ghana is Professor Etsy Kanku, a political scientist and an associate professor at the University of Media Arts and Communication in Ghana. A very big thank you to the both of you for joining us today. Uh so Steve I'm going to start with you because we do know that the founders of the organization of African Union what is now called the African Union when they decided to come together back in 1963 and unite African voices and resources on this very day back then it the main goal really was to forge a shared path towards sovereignty. But over 60 years later, what are those threats challenging this African vision of fighting against exploitation and domination?

[00:03:22]>> Thank you very much for hosting me.

[00:03:24]First, we need to put context into perspective. The full-fledged colonization of Africa happened in the last phase of the 19th century and continued toward the end of the 20th century when uh towards the middle of the 20th century when most African states regained independence. I'm very deliberate by saying regain independence because uh the notion of sovereignity was not something or a foreign idea to Africans or something alien. It wasn't an alien concept. It existed in the pre-colonial African society. In other words, the the historical facts, archaeological and anthropological evidence that when colonialism happened, Africa was not tabularasa.

[00:04:08]That means no people can be innocent of history. Therefore, we must first start by looking at the facts saying for those who argue that uh Africa gained independence in the to start with it is a logical fallacy.

[00:04:24]But then the post uh colonial post independent Africa again where if you look at most states we can argue that most uh state in the post independent Africa are largely an appendage of the colonial state in many ways. The social, economic and political structures were not dismantled and the colonial legacy still continues even to this day and has a farreaching effects on the life of many African people. So that is very important to look into as we start. But then the reality in Africa today is that you can look at the systems that were inherited from the colonial powers that the founding fathers did not dismantle these systems. So they continued akin to produce the same impact and uh in the lives of many Africans up to this day.

[00:05:16]So we can see that uh the Africa suffers uh the paradox of plenty meaning that uh Africa is endowed with a lot of resources. We have all strategic minerals and natural resources. But still the continent continues to experience huge uh populations that are deprived uh high rates of unemployment uh corruption >> and uh just challenges that uh have been really magnified by things that are really happening today.

[00:05:49]>> All right, let me let me bring in Professor Sanku. Uh Prof. The UN General Assembly passed a resolution in March declaring the transatlantic slave trade as the greatest crime against humanity.

[00:06:00]A resolution that your country Ghana spearheaded. How significant is this and what does it mean for Africa and Africans today?

[00:06:10]>> Yeah, thank you very much. Uh it's a very profound event and it's profoundly significant uh because it moves a certain conversation from a narrow-minded narrative or from the emotionally charged rhetoric that we've often had across Africa because this is not new into a more serious and legitimate issue for international action. So what I mean is that this is now moved from the periphery or from the margins of uh Panaffrican discourse uh to become a very centered a very dominant and a very legitimate issue of international law and international diplomacy. This particular um resolution is very very significant because it has generated a certain global sense of awareness or at least let's call it global acknowledgment of a historical injustice and has legitimized such conversations moving it away from the emotional day-to-day conversation into a very legitimate and credible issue of international action and concern.

[00:07:23]>> Right. So Steve coming to you of course that's a huge deal what uh professor sikangas talked about but looking at what's going on in the world today what are those wins you would say Africa can celebrate in its fight against neoc colonialism thank you very much for your question but first we need to define panafricanism so that I'm able to respond to your questionism first is a worldwide movement and a liberation ideology that advances the emancipation total emancipation of African people on the continent and in the diaspora against any forms of colonialism, appetite or imperialism. So today when you look at the African continent which is one of the most populous continent of course 1.4 billion people >> and with all the strategic minerals and resources, it is still continues to be one of the most underdeveloped continent with a lot of challenges. The continent hasn't yet managed to rise above colonialism up to this day. So it is a question of trying to look how do we reform systems and structures.

[00:08:27]>> Are you saying there are no wins at all?

[00:08:30]>> Well attempt has been made for instance if you look at the 1991 Abuja treaty set the stage for the continental economic integration and today of course you can talk uh we have the Africa continental free trade area which was launched in 2021 in Ara Ghana. But despite that, the operationalization of some of these continental frameworks that will bring the continent to integrate the continent to help it realize its goal of uniting people and giving that prosperity which they've always endeavored to have is the question that is in place. Then attend to seeing the continent still largely is influenced by external forces that still have never wanted to let Africa go.

[00:09:10]>> All right. So let me come to you again professor Sanku. Several African countries are re-evaluating their relationships with foreign powers and rewriting mining deals for example. So there is the African continental free trade area what my guest here Steve has just talked about and that is of course aimed to improve intra African trade.

[00:09:30]How are such moves propelling Africa towards growth and greater sovereignty?

[00:09:36]>> Yes. Uh thank you very much. It's a very important trade agreement. It's a very important move and initiative that was launched all across Africa. There was a lot of fanfare about it and it's a major feature of the African Union or African unity moves or initiative. So yes, that is there. Uh what it is doing is that um it is moving the conversation and the rhetoric uh from just speaking or just speeches or just words to economic integration to economic cooperation and that is extremely important if we want to move forward. One of the things that we have to do uh beyond the speeches, beyond the conversations is to move in a very very transformational manner to integrate the economic aspect of Africa.

[00:10:33]There needs to be investments economic investment. If there has to be a difference or if there will be a difference in terms of the character, in terms of the nature of African unity and African integration, one of the most important factors would be the economic investments or the economic cooperation that we have as a continent. And I do believe that the AFCA is the beginning of that. But we have to move even faster uh beyond what we are seeing now. And we have to stop seeing ourselves as just Kenyans, as just South Africans or just as Ghanaians. Uh to begin to see each other as people who belong to a single African un a single African um institution or a single African framework or body and begin to see each ourselves as that. And in terms of that, I I do think that the African Union for instance has to be more actionoriented in order to achieve this particular goal.

[00:11:35]>> All right. So uh let me come back to you Stephen because we've seen Africa and China part of uh a push for a greater multilateralism. We've seen more countries and maybe as a as a result of this push joining uh blocks such as bricks for example. Uh we have also seen South Africa hosting the G20 summit and this was big. It was an example of Africa taking the lead on the global stage. But as we look at this issue more deeply, how can China's engagement with Africa help the continent to achieve the goal of freeing itself from foreign domination and even getting a bigger voice on the global platform on places for example such as the UN security council?

[00:12:14]>> Thank you very much for that question.

[00:12:15]First, let me say that after World War II ended in 1945, a new international system came into place. But during that period most African countries were not still yet independent were still under foreign domination part of the European powers in their colonies. So after they attain independence they had to try to fit into that particular system. So during this period when we are seeing China as a global power as a superpower with a lot of influence and in the context of bricks that creates room for Africa to be a co-creator of the new international system and and as an equal partner but it's also important to note that African states have 54 seats in the United Nations >> and in this context we can also say that African states lack diplomatic clout to influence events value and outcome on the global stage. So that has been a challenge. But then I believe the Africa engagement with with China engagement with the African countries is quite a progressive and uh mutual beneficial cooperation. And you can see these of course based on the Beijing consensus.

[00:13:22]China tends to engage Africa more on the for example there's the infrastructure deficit in the global south and specifically African countries have been largely relying on the infrastructure that were left behind by the colonial powers but this is a time when you're seeing Africa in terms of technology benefiting more and having even more new and talk about roads airports seap ports and that is something good even technology when talk about the clean energy solutions so I believe uh China as a leader in the fourth uh industrial revolution technologies is quite a very important player and will help Africa to meet the huge uh deficit I mean in terms of uh getting resources to or the credit to develop its infrastructure we have an alternative there's the Africa the Asia invest infrastructure investment bank the new development bank as an alternative to what the west has always always offered >> all right yes and finally my final question is to you professor sanku very briefly, how can African countries really achieve unity today?

[00:14:29]>> Thank you very much. I think that one of the major ways that we can achieve uh unity and progress is to overcome dependency. Yes, I do understand that we live in a global world and so the attention is shifting from the west to China and Asia and different places. But the only way that Africa can truly become independent is by winning ourselves of any of these external international organizations. Of course, we have to cooperate with them, but as an equal partner on an equal footing in terms of trade cooperation and not just going in always looking with a begging basket or looking for their support. So the first thing is to deepen African unity and African integration in an economic sense or in an economic way. We can do this by developing our own African banking system. I know that already exists, but we need to make it even more stronger in terms of having an African development bank and centralizing its role in African's development efforts so that we do not always need to go out there to borrow money but also operationalize our own indigenous African banking and financial system. The next thing that we have to do is also invest in the continent in our railways in our roots um digital investments and cooperation and energy um integration as well. It's very very important among ourselves as Africans.

[00:16:00]We have to begin to have this investment along these four frameworks. And I also say that we have to strengthen the African Union for it to become a more central, a more practical and a more impactful body within the lives of Africans on a day-to-day basis. There are a lot of people who do not still see that impact, who do not really I mean experience the impact of the existence of the African Union. I think that it has to become more actionoriented in terms of enforcing democratic standards within nations in in terms of also mediating in conflicts and also in terms of um winning Africa of the dependency syndrome. Lastly, we also need to increase the the the the reframing of the African unity narrative to begin to see ourselves more as Africans belonging to a single heritage rather than as South Africans, as Nigerians or as Ghanaians, we need to have a very a redefinition and a reframing of the African cultural heritage. And I think once we people begin to accept that we are not working in silos but really accept that we are the same people that would help the reformation of the institutions very strong political institutions is also important and the political will by the leaders themselves because it's one thing I'm saying something here and another thing with the leaders hobnobbing with western powers and with western institutions signing various forms of deals. So that political will is also extremely important if we want to move this unity from paper, from rhetoric to immediate and realistic action.

[00:17:39]>> All right. Well, thank you very much.

[00:17:40]Thank you to all of those guests we've had uh here in studio and in Ara. Thank you for your insights. We've been speaking to Professor Etsy Kangu, a political scientist and an associate professor at the University of Media Arts and Communication in Ghana. And also here in studio I've been joined by Stephen Jaga who is a lecturer at the department of diplomacy and international studies at the University of Nairobi. Thank you all for joining us this afternoon. All right. So as we speak about the Africa Liberation Day, let's listen to some voices from across Africa as the content marks this important day.

[00:18:16]>> We can't just be celebrating African day with flags and concerts. I think uh the real celebration here is when we start holding our leaders accountable for their steel worships and uh when they also uh start uh building a Africa that everybody hope to see for the next generation to come. I think that's when we should start celebrating Africa. But for now, I think our leaders has have to be very accountable for what their steward worship is.

[00:18:55]>> We're in a continent where we have everything, but what we lack is the political will for our leaders to put those resources together in order to enhance or promote Africa. All what they do is grabbing power for their own selfish interests.

[00:19:11]They grab power for their own children.

[00:19:14]You find out that a a man who is vying for power when he get the power all what he did is for his own family for his own friends and for his own selfish consumption. Increasingly Africans are are leading Africa. For the past something years there been some seen some level of political independence in mo is not as independent as it it should have been. And economically we've not really achieved much as an Africa as Africa.

[00:19:46]>> I think Africa day is a very important day to us all Africans because I think about 52 countries are celebrating this day today. So as we fought together uh through the liberaration I think it is important for us to celebrate together like show our cultures even h especially here in South Africa we should h celebrate it more because we've seen a xenophobic attacks to other Africans. So I think this day is is meant for us to unite us and be one Africa.

[00:20:18]>> Africa day should be about unity love and celebrating each other as Africans.

[00:20:23]It's said that xenophobia still exists while we are supposed to stand together, but we treat each other as strangers.

[00:20:31]>> For me, it's a day of reflection during which we must ask ourselves about the gains made since independence and about our true independence.

[00:20:43]For Bukinaso, it is fair to say that this day means a great deal to us given the momentum we currently have under the leadership of President Captain Ibrahim Trouore who is reigniting the flame of African unity. Even though some countries seem unable to grasp this momentum, perhaps because they are not free, but are bound to some other power.

[00:21:06]This day serves as a stark reminder to Africans that Africa has experienced a difficult and ambiguous times which have played a significant part in shaping its history and that beyond this painful history can rise from the ashes and finally build a society that will be at par with other societies that have managed to make their mark on the world and indeed are currently living out the dynamic progressive and popular vision that we are implementing across the three nations of the alliance of Sahel states.