NewzAfrican Pan-African activists and speakers have called on the continent’s youth to intensify the campaign for debt cancellation, reparations, resource sovereignty and economic independence, arguing that Africa must use the current shifts in the global geopolitical order to break from systems of economic and political dependency. The call was made at the Youth Forum on Debt and Reparations, held at the ISSER Conference Hall, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, on Saturday, September 5, under the theme “Reclaiming Africa’s Wealth, Resisting Neocolonial Bondage.” The forum brought together prominent voices including Dr Abu Sakara Foster, who chaired the event, veteran journalist Kwesi Pratt Jnr, and Pan-African Progressive Front Head of Headquarters, Humfrey Quaye. In his opening remarks, Dr Abu Sakara said the current disruption to the global economic and geopolitical order presented a rare opportunity for Africa to challenge structures that had historically restricted its development.
He said although Africans were no longer bound by the physical chains of slavery and colonialism, economic and political systems continued to limit their trade opportunities and ability to fully exploit their own resources. Dr Abu Sakara urged young Africans to act before the current global instability gives way to another international arrangement that could once again constrain the continent. He also called for stronger and more meaningful integration between Africa and its diaspora, advocating the creation of communities in Africa that would allow people of African descent returning from abroad to become fully integrated into African societies over generations.
Kwesi Pratt Jnr argued that the reparations agenda must not be reduced to financial compensation or symbolic gestures such as the return of artefacts and human remains. He said the ultimate objective should be to “reset” the global system and create an international order in which all people are treated equally regardless of race or geographical location. “What we demand is not compensation.
What we demand is equal rights,” Mr Pratt said. He urged African countries to take greater control of their natural resources, warning that the continent’s gold, bauxite, diamonds, lithium and other minerals were finite and could not be recovered once extracted. He also criticised the colonial orientation of some African infrastruc…
Former presidential candidate and Pan-Africanist Dr Foster Abu Sakara, has urged African youth to seize the current upheaval in the global geopolitical and economic order to advance the continent’s long-standing quest for economic freedom. Speaking at the forum at the ISSER Conference Hall, University of Ghana, under the theme “Reclaiming Africa’s Wealth, Resisting Neocolonial Bondage,” Dr Abu Sakara said the existing global economic and political architecture that has constrained Africa was now undergoing significant disruption. He described the moment as a unique opportunity for the continent, particularly its youth, to push for greater control over trade, resources and economic opportunities before a new global structure emerges.
According to him, although Africans are no longer physically bound by the chains of slavery and colonialism, the continent remains constrained by economic and political systems that limit its ability to determine its own development. Dr Abu Sakara said the suppression of Africa’s freedom had evolved from physical domination to structures that influence how countries trade and exploit their natural resources. “We’re no longer bound by physical chains,” he said on Saturday, September 5, arguing that the economic and political architecture of the global system continues to restrict Africa’s freedom and opportunities.
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