Kwame Nkrumah on African Unity

How does Nkrumah's call for African unity rather than fragmentation reflect the tensions between decolonization and the ongoing cold war?

Nkrumah's call for African unity reflects the tensions of decolonization because imperialist power has left Africa with little infrastructure which is necessary in unifying Africa through connected networks of transportation and communication. Also, because the pace of decolonization varies from state to state, many African states are not ready to unite yet because they are plagued in internal conflict such as civil war. Nkrumah also mentions the tensions of the ongoing cold war which provokes violence while he calls for peace in Africa when he says that "greatness is not to be measured in stock piles of atom bombs" (1112). He also mentions that Africa will emerge as a Great Power because its greatness "is not built on fear, envy, and suspicion, nor won at the expense of others" (1112). The "fear, envy, and suspicion" describe how the U.S. and Soviet Union viewed each other. Also, both nations used proxy nations to fight wars for them which connects to "at the expense of others".