A moment of cultural resonance unfolded at the United Nations this week, when renowned Ivorian academic Professor N’Dri Thérèse Assié-Lumumba spoke passionately about her deep ancestral links to Ghana.

She recounted how Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire share a common heritage that predates the colonial borders separating West African nations today.

The distinguished scholar, a Professor of Africana Studies at Cornell University, was featured in a conversation hosted by Ghanaian diplomat and veteran journalist Ben Dotse Malor during the 2025 Academic Conference on Africa.

The event, organised by the UN Office of the Special Adviser on Africa (OSAA), ran from Monday to Wednesday.

Malor introduced Assié-Lumumba with a playful observation: she looked unmistakably Ghanaian, specifically Akan or Asante, despite holding Ivorian nationality.

The professor confirmed the connection with a personal revelation: her grandmother once lived in Kumasi, Ghana’s cultural heartland.

The Border Was Not Drawn by Us

Assié-Lumumba used the moment to revisit a familiar truth across the continent: that colonial borders fractured long-standing political and cultural bonds.

“Well, as you know, the border was not dropped by us,” she said. “The Europeans had a project to break down strong political unity so that they would remain there.”

Her own name carries that continuity. In both Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, “Assié” means down, earth or land—a linguistic bridge that mirrors historical migrations of Akan-related groups, including the Baule people in present-day Côte d’Ivoire.

Sankofa and the African Renaissance

During her conference presentation, Assié-Lumumba invoked Sankofa, the iconic Akan symbol of a bird looking backward while moving forward. She explained that its message—returning to the past to inform the future—captures the essence of Africa’s ongoing quest for renewal.

“Sankofa is our renaissance,” she said. “The idea is not to go back, but to look back—to learn, to understand where you were, where you have been, and how you got to where you are. Only then can you strategically plan for the future.”

The professor further noted that many European scholars misunderstand the symbol, assuming it advocates regression. Instead, she noted, Sankofa expresses continuity, analysis, and intentional progress.

Her latest book, Akwaba Africa: African Renaissance in the 21st Century, draws from that same philosophy. While “akwaba” is widely known to mean “welcome,” she clarified that the deeper etymology is “welcome back”—a call to restoration and revival.

Real Histories, Shared Futures

Assié-Lumumba also offered a quick lesson in 18th-century political history, recounting a succession crisis following the death of Osei Tutu, an event that led some Akan groups, including her ancestors, to migrate westward.

Her grandmother’s later life in Kumasi, the second largest city in Ghana, brings the story full circle.

The exchange at UN Headquarters is enriching because it echoed an ongoing conversation across West Africa: cultural identity does not end at national borders. From language and spirituality to arts and governance systems, the Akan world, stretching from Ghana to Côte d’Ivoire, remains deeply interwoven.

At a time when Africa is redefining its global standing, scholars like Assié-Lumumba are urging nations to look backward with intention and forward with clarity.

Sankofa, in her telling, is not nostalgia—it is strategy!

Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama has become the first African to claim the No. 1 spot on ArtReview’s prestigious annual Power 100 list.

The Power 100 list is an annual ranking published by ArtReview magazine that identifies the most influential people and organisations in the global contemporary art world.

Mahama’s achievement marks a landmark moment for Africa’s contemporary art movement and the global creative industry.

ArtReview, regarded as one of the most influential voices in contemporary art, named Mahama the world’s most powerful figure in the field for 2024, an achievement that signals what many experts describe as a significant shift in global cultural influence.

“Quite humbling,” Mahama says of historic milestone

Speaking to The Guardian, Mahama said he first learned about the power list in 2011 while studying at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). That year, Chinese artist Ai Weiwei was ranked first.

“For me to be part of this, especially coming from a place like Ghana—where for many years it felt like we were not even part of the discourse—is quite humbling,” he said.

Based in Tamale in northern Ghana, Mahama said he hopes his rise encourages young Ghanaian and African artists to “realise that they are part of the contemporary discourse and not just on the sideline.”

A power shift in the global art world

ArtReview’s editor-in-chief, Mark Rappolt, described Mahama’s selection as emblematic of a broader realignment in the art world—one that mirrors shifts in global finance, culture, and influence.

“I think you could also look at that as saying there’s a realignment of where global finance sits,” Rappolt noted, adding that the art world is deeply intertwined with these global changes.

This year’s ranking places multiple African and Middle Eastern creatives in the top 10, signalling growing visibility and institutional influence for artists from regions previously marginalised in the global arts ecosystem.

African and MENA artists dominate top slots

Following Mahama, Qatar’s Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani ranks second, backed by her significant cultural investments and acquisitions. Last year’s No. 1, Sheikha Hoor al-Qasimi of the UAE’s Sharjah Art Foundation, takes the No. 3 spot.

Egyptian artist Wael Shawky appears at No. 4, while the rest of the top 10 includes Singaporean artist Ho Tzu Nyen, American artists Amy Sherald and Kerry James Marshall, writer Saidiya Hartman, UK-based Forensic Architecture, and German photographer Wolfgang Tillmans.

Mahama’s global rise

Mahama’s work, known for transforming found materials—such as train carriages, jute sacks, old hospital beds, and industrial remnants—has attracted major global attention.

Some of his standout recent projects include:

• “Songs About Roses” at Edinburgh’s Fruitmarket Gallery, praised as “extraordinary as a great magic-realist novel.”
• His dramatic 2,000-square-metre pink fabric installation at London’s Barbican Centre, produced in Ghana.
• The opening of the Savannah Centre for Contemporary Art (SCCA) in Tamale (2019), a major arts hub featuring galleries, libraries, archives, and studios.

Critics have placed Mahama in the same league as global heavyweights like William Kentridge and Anselm Kiefer for his ability to confront history, memory, and postcolonial narratives through large-scale installations.

Rappolt notes that Mahama’s community-focused approach reflects a new generation of artists redefining what artistic influence means today: not only producing works of genius but investing in their creative ecosystems.

A global panel decides the ranking

Thirty anonymous art experts worldwide contributed to this year’s Power 100, which has been published annually for 24 years.

Mahama’s rise to the top—powered by both creativity and community impact—cements Ghana’s growing reputation as an emerging force in contemporary art.

The final funeral rites of legendary Highlife musician Daddy Lumba have been thrown into fresh uncertainty, according to the latest reports.

According to Asaase News, members of the legendary Highlife musician’s immediate family have gone to court to halt funeral preparations, accusing a relative of hijacking the process and mismanaging funds meant for the late singer’s memorial.

In a motion for an interlocutory injunction, Obaapanin Afia Adomah and Robert Gyamfi — head of Daddy Lumba’s immediate family — told the court that Kofi Owusu, leader of the Ekuona Royal Family of Nsuta and Parkoso, unilaterally set up a funeral committee without their knowledge shortly after the musician’s death.

Claims of sidelining and unauthorized withdrawals

The applicants said the dispute had already been reported to the Manhyia Palace, which instructed the respondent to stop making decisions without the immediate family’s involvement.

But tensions escalated further after donations from Lumba’s one-week observance at Independence Square were reportedly deposited into an account at CAL Bank under the name “Daddy Lumba Memorial Foundation LBG.”

According to court filings, the original committee that supervised the one-week ceremony has since been dissolved, with plans underway to form a new body for the final funeral rites.

Before this transition could take effect, however, the respondent allegedly made unauthorized withdrawals — GHS11,000 on November 11, followed by GHS60,000, and has reportedly initiated moves to withdraw an additional GHS200,000 from the account.

The motion accuses him of “arrogating to himself” total control of the funeral arrangements, including fixing December 13 for the burial and erecting billboards without the family’s approval.

The applicants further argued that rushing ahead with the funeral could undermine ongoing police investigations into the circumstances surrounding Daddy Lumba’s death — a sensitive concern that has intensified their push for court intervention.

Family seeks injunction

They are asking the court to restrain all respondents — including Transition Funeral Home, named as the third defendant — from organising or participating in the funeral until proper consultations are restored.

The applicants warn that they risk “irreparable harm” if funds designated for their relative’s memorial are depleted, insisting that it is the immediate family’s duty to ensure the Highlife icon receives a befitting burial. They also argue that granting the injunction would not prejudice the respondents, who “have no personal interest” in the money.

The case is scheduled for a hearing on Thursday, 11 December.

A Kumasi High Court recently gave a decisive ruling to end the claim by one woman that she alone should act as his legal widow and control the rights associated with Lumba’s death.

That high-profile case delayed funeral preparations and brought divisions within the late musician’s family to public scrutiny.