Abdul Mohammed*

Pan-Africanism, at its core, is not a cultural aspiration or sentimental slogan—it is a political project. It was born of struggle, forged in the furnace of slavery, colonialism, and racial domination, and matured through the anti-colonial liberation movements of the 20th century. Its essence is the sovereign determination of African peoples to shape their own destiny—to liberate themselves from all forms of external servitude, whether colonial, neocolonial, or neoliberal.

Pan-Africanism’s central purpose was never merely to unite for unity’s sake. It was a response to fragmentation—the deliberate fracturing of Africa by slavery and colonial borders. That fragmentation persists today, in new and more insidious forms: economic dependency, ideological subservience, the weaponization of identity, and the erosion of common purpose. The Pan-African project, therefore, remains unfinished.

The Political Essence of Pan-Africanism

Before African states were born, Pan-Africanism existed as a people’s movement, transcending boundaries and calling for a shared African identity anchored in solidarity, dignity, and self-determination. To renew that mission today, Africa must transcend the limits of the colonial nation-state and reconstruct Pan-Africanism as a continental and global political project of the African people.

The Founding Generation: Political Leadership in Command

Modern African history demonstrates that progress has only been made when politics was in command—when leadership was visionary, competent, and grounded in the ideals of Pan-African liberation.

The first generation of African leaders understood the task before them: to complete the decolonization of Africa and overcome the legacy of political and territorial fragmentation. Their project gave rise to the Organization of African Unity (OAU), the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), and the Lagos Plan of Action—institutions that sought to translate Pan-African ideals into collective political and economic action.

These leaders—Nkrumah, Nyerere, Nasser, Haile Selassie, Senghor, and others—saw Pan-Africanism as both a philosophy of liberation and a strategy for integration. Their achievements liberated the continent from colonial rule, but the project reached its limits as post-independence politics became entangled in Cold War rivalries, coups d’état, and external domination.

The Generation that midwifed the transition from OAU to AU: Africa’s Renaissance and Reinvention

The dawn of the 21st century marked Africa’s rebirth—a period of renewal guided by a new generation of leaders who sought to restore Pan-Africanism as a credible political project. The transition from the OAU to the African Union (AU) symbolized a renaissance in African political thought and leadership.

Under initiatives such as NEPAD and the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), Africa attempted to reclaim ownership of its governance and development. This was the golden period of the modern Pan-African project—a time of optimism, coherence, and political seriousness.

Important charters were established: the Constitutive Act of the African Union, the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, the African Court of Justice and Human Rights, and the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA). These instruments reflected a political reimagination of the African state as a capable, legitimate, and people-centered institution.

The Current Moment: Fragmentation, Transactionalism, and Bureaucratic Capture

The past decade has seen the degradation of leadership both at national and continental levels. A new era of transactional politics has displaced the Pan-African spirit. The continental project is now dominated by bureaucratic Pan-Africanists—functionaries without political vision or courage.

Africa’s position in global affairs has weakened despite symbolic gains such as membership in the G20 and expanded participation in BRICS. State capture and corruption have eroded leadership legitimacy. The Pan-African project has been depoliticized, reduced to administrative routine, while external powers continue to shape Africa’s strategic direction through economic leverage and military patronage. The collapse of multilateralism globally has compounded Africa’s vulnerability.

Reclaiming ‘African Solutions to African Problems’

One of the most telling indicators of Africa’s drift is the hollowing out of the once-powerful principle: African solutions to African problems. Originally conceived as part of the African Renaissance agenda, it meant the ownership of problem definition and solution design by Africans.

Today, this principle has been weaponized into inertia—a rhetorical shield for inaction. To restore its meaning, African leaders must return it to its political essence: a Pan-African commitment to self-determination, collective responsibility and accountability.

Mediation, Leadership, and the Crisis of Political Competence

Nowhere is Africa’s political decline more evident than in the domain of mediation and peace processes. From the Great Lakes to the Horn of Africa, external actors dominate African conflicts. Mediation—an inherently political act—has been reduced to transactional deal-making dominated by transactional external actors.

Yet mediation, more than peacekeeping, requires political competence, moral authority, and strategic clarity. Africa’s priority must be to reclaim the political nature of mediation—to train and empower mediators who are politically literate and Pan-African in outlook.

The Path Forward: Repoliticizing Pan-Africanism

Pan-Africanism today stands at a crossroads. Either it becomes irrelevant, buried under bureaucratic inertia, or it is repoliticized—revived as a people’s movement guided by serious, principled leadership dedicated to advancing freedom of Africans from want, fear and external domination.

The tasks before us are clear: reclaim the political identity of Pan-Africanism, nurture a new generation of competent leaders, rebuild the African state as a people-centered institution, and develop a continental strategy to navigate the emerging multipolar global order.

Pan-Africanism remains the only project that offers Africa the possibility of collective dignity and survival in an uncertain world. The time has come to return politics to command—to revive Pan-Africanism not as nostalgia, but as a living, disciplined political project rooted in the people.

* Abdul Mohammed, who served as senior official in both AU and UN mediation processes, is one of Africa’s leading mediation practitioners and experts.