Students and young people from the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) and Ghana will gather in Accra on September 5 for a major youth forum focused on colonial debt, reparations and Africa’s struggle for economic sovereignty.
The Youth Forum on Debt and Reparations, convened by the Pan-African Progressive Front (PPF), will take place at the ISSER Conference Hall, University of Ghana, Legon, under the theme “Reclaiming Africa’s Wealth, Resisting Neocolonial Bondage.”
The forum is expected to bring together approximately 200 participants, including students and youth from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger living in Ghana, other foreign students and Ghanaian youth.
The gathering will examine the economic structures that continue to shape Africa’s economic and political sovereignty, with particular attention to the CFA franc system, French imperial extraction, colonial economic legacies and the wider architecture of debt bondage across the continent.
Beyond discussion, the forum seeks to place African youth at the centre of practical action on reparations and debt cancellation. Participants will explore concrete strategies for advancing the reparations movement, challenging systems of economic dependency and strengthening Africa’s capacity for genuine economic self-determination.
As part of the programme, the Ambassadors of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger to Ghana have been invited to address the forum. Their participation will provide an opportunity for young Africans to engage directly with representatives of the three AES states and gain perspectives on the countries’ ongoing pursuit of greater sovereignty and economic independence.
Speaking ahead of the forum, Sumaila Mohammed, Head of the Economic and Reparations Department of the Pan-African Progressive Front, said the gathering was intended to strengthen youth participation in the wider struggle for African sovereignty.
“The Forum is about bringing African youth together to understand the economic structures that continue to constrain our sovereignty and to develop practical responses. We want young people to see themselves not as observers, but as active participants in the struggle for reparations, debt cancellation and genuine economic independence.”
The programme will feature three major sessions: “Youth Role in Reparations: What Can Youth Do?”; “Reparations Flashmob and Micro Lawsuits”; and “Debt Cancellation and the Global Debt Trap.” The forum will conclude with an open-floor synthesis, where participants will consolidate proposals and identify practical areas for youth action.
The forum is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, September 5, 2026, at the ISSER Conference Hall, University of Ghana, Legon.
The Pan-African Progressive Front (PPF) is an international non-governmental organisation headquartered in Accra, Ghana, committed to advancing African unity and supporting progressive movements across Africa and the diaspora. Inspired by the vision of Dr Kwame Nkrumah and other Pan-Africanists, PPF advocates for Africa’s political and economic unity as the foundation for continental strength, self-determination and sovereignty.
The September 5 forum forms part of PPF’s broader efforts to mobilise African youth around the questions of reparatory justice, economic sovereignty, debt cancellation and the recovery of Africa’s wealth.
Find full statement here Press