Ghana to Host Youth Forum on Colonial Debt and Reparations

Story by Fada Amakye

Students and youth groups from the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) and Ghana will converge in Accra to confront issues of colonial debt and reparations.

The Pan-African Progressive Front (PPF) will host the Youth Forum on Debt and Reparations on Saturday, September 5, 2026, at the ISSER Conference Hall, University of Ghana.

The forum, themed _“Reclaiming Africa’s Wealth, Resisting Neocolonial Bondage, is expected to bring together about 200 participants, including students from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger resident in Ghana, other foreign students and Ghanaian youth.

According to organizers, the forum seeks to move the conversation on colonial debt and reparations from policy debate to youth-led action. Participants will examine the CFA Franc, French imperial extraction and the broader architecture of debt bondage in Africa.

The Ambassadors of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger to Ghana have been invited to deliver remarks on the AES sovereignty project and economic self-determination.

Head of Economic and Reparations Department of PPF, Sumaila Mohammed, said the forum is about bringing African youth together to understand economic structures that constrain sovereignty.

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, he said.

Activities for the day include discussions on the role of youth in reparations, a reparations flashmob and micro lawsuits, and a session on debt cancellation and the global debt trap.