Which Ghanaian leader promoted Pan-Africanism and helped found the Organization of African Unity?

• A. Nnamdi Azikiwe
• B. Jomo Kenyatta
• C. Kwame Nkrumah
• D. Julius Nyerere

Answer: (C)

Pan-Africanism centers on African unity and solidarity to advance political and economic strengths across the continent. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s early leader, became the most influential proponent of this vision, arguing that true freedom required collective action among African nations and pushing for continental cooperation rather than isolated progress. He helped organize and mobilize support for a formal continental body, playing a pivotal role in the founding of the Organization of African Unity in 1963 to promote unity, sovereignty, and development across Africa. The OAU, later transformed into the African Union, embodies that goal of shared purpose among independent African states. While the other leaders were important figures in their own right, Nkrumah is the one most closely associated with promoting Pan-Africanism on a continental scale and with establishing the OAU.