Pan-Africanism, Neo-colonialism and Non-alignment: similarities and differences in the political thoughts of Kwame Nkrumah and Thomas Sankara

Abstract

In the second half of the Twentieth century a distinctive phenomenon crossed through Sub-Saharan Africa that modified not only the geopolitical aspect of the continent, but also the worldly north-south relation. From 1957 until 1990 all African countries had been freed from the burden of colonialism. The new leaders of these countries, who had lead liberation movements in the previous decades, strongly condemned (neo)-colonialism and advocated for a new international order in which African and Asian countries could have a greater voice. Among these leaders, Kwame Nkrumah stands out as he contributed extensively not only with his writings, but also in actions during the 50s and the 60s. During the 80s, one of the most revolutionary leaders towards these thematics will be Thomas Sankara, president of Burkina Faso, who came into power after the fifth political coup in the country since independence from France in 1960. This thesis is a comparison between political thoughts of Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of independent Ghana from 1957 to 1966, and Thomas Sankara. Kwame Nkrumah's foreign policy in Ghana was characterized by three basic aims: to fight against neo-colonialism, work toward the unification of Africa and the maintenance of world peace through a policy of non-alignment. In his book "Neo-colonialism: the last stage of imperialism", he describes neo-colonialism as a more subtle form of imperialism, an economic and cultural exploitation of former colonies by imperial powers. He strongly believed that neo-colonialism in Africa could be completely defeated only with the union of African states. He advocated for a Common African Market and a continental government for Africa. During his presidency in Ghana, the country followed a policy of non-alignment; he believed that African countries should not be under the influence of any of the two blocs that had been formed with the escalation of the cold war. The aim of this thesis is to analyse on what level did Kwame Nkrumah leave a legacy to Thomas Sankara. The latter, hold on strongly to these thematics, in particular to neo-colonialism; what are his argumentations against neo-colonialism, and in favor of pan-africanism, and non-alignment.