Keypoints:
- Influencers sign Addis Ababa declaration
- AU urges stronger African narratives
- Fund launched to support free movement
AFRICAN influencers, journalists, artists, activists and policymakers gathered at the African Union (AU) Headquarters on November 14 and 15 for the High-Level Influencers Forum on Borderless Africa, an event deliberately held 141 years after the Berlin Conference that divided the continent. The gathering sought to reassert African unity and renew the push for free movement across borders.
Delegates from across Africa and the diaspora described the moment as an opportunity to challenge the legacy of colonial border-making and to strengthen continental integration. Participants included prominent content creators and cultural custodians whose platforms shape public conversations across the continent.
AU official urges generation to drive integration
In a keynote address, Fred Ngoga, Senior Advisor for International Partnerships at the African Union Commission, said integration must be lived, not only legislated.
‘Integration is more than policy; it is about people experiencing freedom across their own continent. Influencers have the power to make this real for millions of Africans,’ he said.
Throughout the forum, speakers emphasised the decisive role of digital creators in modern African discourse. With mobile phones, cameras and mass online reach, influencers were told they can shape continental consciousness and mobilise support for unity far faster than traditional institutions.
Speakers call for dismantling of colonial barriers
Hardi Yakubu, Coordinator of the Africans Rising Movement, challenged participants to transform the continent’s complaints about colonial history into action toward dismantling the barriers that continue to impede mobility.
‘We can no longer complain about what the Berlin Conference did 141 years ago, yet we have the power to undo what 13 men sat down to do,’ he said. He criticised the continued cost and complexity Africans face when travelling within their own continent.
Yakubu added: ‘We no longer want to accept the situation 141 years after the Berlin Conference, that African people have to pay dollars to come to Ethiopia, which is the headquarters of the African Union.’
Addis Ababa declaration handed to AU
A central moment of the forum came when thirty-six influencers, journalists and artists signed the Addis Ababa Influencers Declaration on Borderless Africa. The document was presented to Robert Afriyie, Ghana’s Ambassador to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to the AU Commission.
Receiving the declaration, Afriyie encouraged the delegates to persevere in their advocacy.
‘Difficulty is not impossibility. Reparations remind us that justice is hard, but never out of reach,’ he said.
He urged them to use technology with intention, stating: ‘The device in your hand once filled an entire room. Use it wisely. Search nonsense, and the algorithm will feed you nonsense. History is not a marathon but a relay. Run your leg with purpose, then pass the baton to the next generation.’
Afriyie also repeated that Africa must reclaim its narrative. ‘Africa must tell its own stories through its own lenses. When we own the narrative, we reclaim our power,’ he added.
Momentum grows with new advocacy fund
The forum also saw the launch of the Borderless Africa Fund, designed to support advocacy work, public education and awareness campaigns across the continent. Organisers said the fund aims to strengthen grassroots mobilisation and empower creators and civil society groups promoting free movement.
Participants at the forum pledged to adopt a more people-centred approach to storytelling, promising to challenge stereotypes, avoid sensationalism and highlight both injustices and achievements that define African experiences.
Artists lend their voices to unity
Ghanaian musician and humanitarian Rocky Dawuni praised the creativity and diversity across the continent.
‘Africa has the diversity and creativity to populate millions of new worlds. Yet, our full potential remains unrealised, waiting for us to manifest it,’ he said.
Artists and cultural voices at the forum urged governments to treat integration as a foundation for prosperity, not an optional policy choice.
Slow ratification of AU free movement protocol
Despite the momentum, actual progress on the AU’s 2018 Protocol on Free Movement of Persons remains slow. Only thirty-two of the AU’s fifty-five member states have signed the protocol, and just four—Rwanda, Niger, Mali and São Tomé and Príncipe—have ratified it.
Delegates said the limited ratification sends a warning that public aspiration for unity is outpacing political will. They urged governments to remove visa barriers, reduce flight costs and unlock greater intra-African trade.
Call for Africans to support campaign
The two-day forum ended with a call to action for Africans across the continent and the diaspora to sign the Africans Rising petition for a borderless Africa. Organisers said freedom of movement forms the heart of justice, dignity and economic opportunity for future generations.
