The West African National Secretariat (WANS) was a Pan-Africanist movement founded by Kwame Nkrumah

Kwame Nkrumah

Kwame Nkrumah was the leader of Ghana and its predecessor state, the Gold Coast, from 1952 to 1966. Overseeing the nation's independence from British colonial rule in 1957, Nkrumah was the first President of Ghana and the first Prime Minister of Ghana...

, based in Britain.

Nkrumah founded WANS in December 1945, immediately following the Manchester Pan-African Congress, becoming the new organisation's Secretary-General. Other founder members included I. T. A. Wallace-Johnson (who was elected as Chairman), Bankole Akpata, Kojo Botsio

Kojo Botsio

Kojo Botsio was a Ghanaian diplomat and politician. He studied in Britain, where he became the treasurer of the West African National Secretariat and an acting warden for the West African Students' Union...

 and Bankole Awooner-Renner (the first President). Many of its initial members were also members of the West African Students' Union

West African Students' Union

The West African Students' Union was an association of students from various West African countries who were studying in the United Kingdom.-Origins:...

 (WASU).

WANS aimed to build a united movement throughout West Africa

West Africa

West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...

 for independence, on a platform of anti-imperialism

Anti-imperialism

Anti-imperialism, strictly speaking, is a term that may be applied to a movement opposed to any form of colonialism or imperialism. Anti-imperialism includes opposition to wars of conquest, particularly of non-contiguous territory or people with a different language or culture; it also includes...

. Its view of West Africa was broad, and aimed to include countries as distant as Kenya

Kenya

Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

 and Sudan

Sudan

Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...

. A major congress was planned, but never came to fruition.

Within WANS, Nkrumah organised a secret socialist revolutionary

Revolutionary

A revolutionary is a person who either actively participates in, or advocates revolution. Also, when used as an adjective, the term revolutionary refers to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor.-Definition:...

 group, known as "The Circle". This group worked closely with the Communist Party of Great Britain

Communist Party of Great Britain

The Communist Party of Great Britain was the largest communist party in Great Britain, although it never became a mass party like those in France and Italy. It existed from 1920 to 1991.-Formation:...

.

During 1946, WANS published five issues of a monthly journal, The New African, containing articles in English, French and Belgian, on West African issues, but also incorporating stories from the Moscow New Times. In September, it held a joint conference with WASU, which Nkrumah convinced Léopold Sédar Senghor

Léopold Sédar Senghor

Léopold Sédar Senghor was a Senegalese poet, politician, and cultural theorist who for two decades served as the first president of Senegal . Senghor was the first African elected as a member of the Académie française. Before independence, he founded the political party called the Senegalese...

 and Sourou Migan Apithy to attend.

WANS was considerably weakened after Nkrumah returned to Africa in 1947, and appears to have dissolved the following year.