Kwame Nkrumah

Kwame Nkrumah led Ghana to become the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to break free of colonial rule, and in doing so became the towering symbol of African independence. More than half a century after his fall, he remains the most influential figure the country has produced.

Early life and education

He was born on 21 September 1909 in Nkroful, in the Gold Coast. He trained as a teacher before continuing his education in the United States and Britain, where he was drawn into pan-African political thought and organising that would shape the rest of his life.

The independence struggle

Returning home, he founded the Convention People's Party and mobilised a mass movement demanding self-government. His campaign of "positive action" and his slogan of independence made him the face of the anti-colonial cause, and on 6 March 1957 the Gold Coast became independent Ghana, with Nkrumah at its head.

Leadership and pan-Africanism

He served as prime minister and, from 1960, as president of a republic. He pursued rapid industrialisation and grand projects such as the Akosombo Dam, and championed a united Africa, playing a central role in the founding of the Organisation of African Unity in 1963. His writings on independence and neo-colonialism influenced liberation movements across the continent.

Fall and legacy

He was overthrown in a military coup in 1966 while travelling abroad, and died in 1972. Yet his stature only grew in the decades that followed; he was voted Africa's Man of the Millennium by BBC listeners, and his vision of African unity still frames debate on the continent today.