President John Dramani Mahama has highlighted the critical role of Africa’s youth in shaping the continent’s future.
Speaking at the opening of the Fifth Pan-African Congress 80th anniversary in Accra on Tuesday, the president noted that the future of Pan-Africanism is the youth.
The event, organized by the Pan-African Progressive Front (PPF), convened African leaders, activists, and diaspora members to renew the Pan-African vision that began in Manchester in 1945.
“More than 60% of Africa’s population is under 35 years of age. The next generation of Pan-Africanists will not gather in secret rooms or liberation movements. They will gather in innovation hubs, in coding laboratories, in creative studios, in universities, and even in digital communities,” President Mahama said. He stressed the need to equip youth with digital and scientific skills, spaces to innovate, and platforms to express African identity with pride.
He also underscored the urgency of climate justice. “Africa contributes the least to global emissions and yet suffers disproportionately from droughts, cyclones, rising temperatures, and flooding. We must therefore approach global climate negotiations not as passive recipients of aid, but as equal partners demanding fairness, investment, and respect for our right to develop. The world must understand that Africa will not be asked to choose between development and sustainability. We demand both. Indeed, we deserve both, and we will pursue both.”
The president tied these challenges to the ongoing struggle for reparations, calling for recognition of past injustices and economic reforms. “On the opening day, the participants discussed specific steps to obtain reparations in the near future: the waiver of payments on loans with onerous terms, the creation of a single African reparations fund, and customs duties on goods from former colonizers,” he said.
President Mahama concluded with a call to unity: “Africans will determine Africa’s destiny, not by external forces, not by global markets, not by geopolitical competition, but by the courage, creativity, and the unity of the African people.”
