From the 9th Pan-African Congress to the All-African People’s Conference, and the claiming of the Ubuntu philosophy
Key information
- Date
- Time
-
5:15 pm
- Venue
- SOAS, University of London
- Room
- Wolfson Lecture Theatre (Paul Webley Wing)
About this event
Amid competing claims over the Pan-African Congress tradition, this lecture returns to a foundational yet overlooked moment: the All-African People's Conference series (1958–1961), where figures like Lumumba and Fanon shaped a continental political consciousness. Recovering this history reorients how we understand Pan-Africanism today.
In December 2025, the government of Togo organised an African Union–endorsed 9th Pan-African Congress, invoking the historical legacy of the Pan-African Congress tradition initiated by W.E.B. Du Bois. In the context of renewed global interest in Pan-Africanism, competing claims over the naming and ownership of “Pan-African Congresses” have intensified. These contestations reflect deeper tensions over historical lineage and political legitimacy within the Pan-African tradition.
This lecture argues that such debates obscure a foundational yet under-recognised continental moment: the All-African People’s Conference (AAPC) series held in Accra (1958), Tunis (1960), and Cairo (1961). The 1958 Accra AAPC—preceded by the Conference of Independent African States—brought together anti-colonial movements and political actors from across the continent and diaspora. It contributed to accelerating decolonisation, internationalising struggles such as the Algerian Revolution, and consolidating a continental political consciousness. Figures including Patrice Lumumba and Frantz Fanon emerged prominently within this political space. Despite its role in shaping the trajectory toward the establishment of the Organisation of African Unity in 1963, the AAPC has been marginalised in contemporary commemorations and historiography. Recovering its political and historical centrality is therefore a necessary intervention in how Pan-Africanism is understood today.
About the speaker
Dr. Gnaka Lagoké holds a PhD in Public Policy and Development in Africa from Howard University and is currently Associate Professor of History (World, African and African American) and Pan-African Studies at Lincoln University (PA), where he chairs the Pan-Africana Studies Department. A specialist in geopolitics, international and African development, comparative politics, reparative justice, and Pan-Africanism, Dr. Lagoké promotes a renewed vision of Pan-Africanism grounded in Ubuntu philosophy. He co-founded the Revival of Pan-Africanism Forum in 2007 and has organised numerous Pan-African meetings, including serving as President of the Scientific Committee of the 9th Pan-African Congress held in Lomé in December 2025. He is the author of Laurent Gbagbo’s Trial and the Indictment of the International Criminal Court: A Pan-African Victory and Le Panafricanisme d’Hier à Demain et la Philosophie Ubuntu.
