Over 50 experts, activists, and scholars from across Africa, the United States, and Europe have converged in Ghana for a high-level convening aimed at reimagining and “repairing” international development through indigenous knowledge systems and communal practices.
The four-day dialogue (29th June to 2nd July 2026), hosted by Ghanaian think tank Reform Initiatives in partnership with African Futures Lab and other international collaborators, including groups from Jackson, Mississippi, seeks to challenge existing development models that participants say have “been broken, dismembered and disconnected” from African realities.
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the event, the Founder and Director of Reform Initiatives, Makmid Kamara, said the meeting is part of a continuum of conversations that have been ongoing for decades.
“We reconnect them in ways that make meaning for our people and our community,” he stated. “That is why we are holding this conversation and we are doing it collectively.”
He explained that the choice of Ghana as host was deliberate, citing the country’s reputation as a gateway for the African diaspora and its efforts to dismantle barriers such as visa restrictions that prevent global participation.
“Ghana is dismantling those structures that prevent people through issues of visa restrictions or other forms of economic inequalities. And people are coming to the continent for the first time and Ghana is serving as the gateway to their reconnection with their ancestral land,” he noted.
The convening brings together voices from across the continent and its diaspora to share experiences, expertise, and strategies rooted in what he described as “communal knowledge sharing and communal ways of doing things.”
“As Africans we believe in communal knowledge sharing and communal ways of doing things. We don’t think that it’s just because we are in Ghana, we should prevent people in other parts of the world who’ve been doing similar work from coming,” he added.
Organizers said the insights gathered from the discussions will be transformed into “practical approaches, tools and strategies” for development practitioners. The goal, according to Reform Initiatives, is to ensure that knowledge generated at the event extends beyond the conference room.
“When you come here, what you say here can stay here, but what you learn can live here,” the speaker said, emphasizing the organization’s role as “connectors of pan-continental initiatives” with aspirations that reach beyond Ghana’s borders.
The event comes at a time of growing calls across Africa for development models that center local knowledge and community ownership rather than imported frameworks.
About Reform Initiatives
Reform Initiatives (RI) is an ethics-driven Pan-African institution that aims to elevate African discourses on reparatory justice, transitional justice, human rights, democracy, and good governance. It operates as a multi-thematic, independent think tank that conducts nonpartisan research, policy analysis, and advocacy across Africa.
RI is registered in Ghana, Sierra Leone, and the United States, with plans to expand to other African countries. Its work engages governments, intergovernmental organizations, NGOs, and social enterprises, addressing issues such as climate justice, food security, and gender equality through public discussions and policy recommendations
