Nkrumah was the first African head of state to promote the concept of Pan-Africanism, which he had been introduced to during his studies at Lincoln University, Pennsylvania in the United States, at the time when Marcus Garvey was becoming famous for his "Back to Africa Movement".
Ialah kepala negara pertama di Afrika yang menyerukan Pan-Afrikanisme, gagasan yang didapatnya selama belajar di Universitas Lincoln di Pennsylvania (Amerika Serikat), pada saat itu ketika Marcus Garvey terkenal akan "Gerakan Kembali ke Afrika".