International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest

Extract

The Gold Coast (now Ghana) was the first African state to gain its independence from Britain, through a mass movement led by Kwame Nkrumah , on March 7, 1957. After this, other African nations hastened the pace for independence, putting pressure on France and Belgium as well as on Britain. Nkrumah's ultimate aim was backed by the determination to build a socialist society in Ghana. Socialism for Ghana was supposed to be uniquely “African,” for he was strongly opposed to neocolonialism, that is, imperialism and capitalism. He was of the view that capitalism was too complicated a system for a newly independent nation, and he saw socialism, the antithesis of capitalism, as the only means of development in Africa. Despite his hopes for a customized African socialism, he took as a model the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The world situation determined Nkrumah's orientation as well as that of other former colonies in Africa, where independence had become the utmost desire and capitalism was equated with colonial domination. Colonialism, to most Africans, was the precursor of capitalism which, in turn, destroyed the indigenous social structure through the exploitation of Africa and its resources. The question for the new leaders of Africa was how to maintain the precolonial ideal of “communalism” in spite of the new technology and market economy that had penetrated the ... log in or subscribe to read full text