More than seven decades before Ghanaian scholars and professionals made their mark around the world, an 18-year-old Alfred Clayton Bannerman was already representing the Gold Coast on an international stage.

Rare footage from 1956 sighted by GhanaWeb on August 30, 2026, shows the young Bannerman taking part in a televised discussion on race and prejudice alongside fellow African students from Nigeria, Ethiopia and South Africa.

Bannerman represented the Gold Coast, while Mohammed Liman represented Nigeria, Nebiat Tafari represented Ethiopia and Dicks Loubser represented South Africa.

Records of the programme identify the four teenagers as participants in a youth exchange and discussion programme examining prejudice and racial attitudes.

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The appearance came at a remarkable moment in the Gold Coast’s history.

The country was still under British colonial rule but was moving rapidly towards independence, with Kwame Nkrumah’s government leading the push for self-government.

Bannerman was a student at Prempeh College when he was selected for an exchange scholarship and travelled to the United States in 1956.

The teenager would go on to build an extraordinary career in medicine.

He later became a professor of neurology at Columbia University in New York and director of neurology at Jamaica Hospital Center in Queens.

Watch debate below

Rare footage of 18-year-old Alfred Bannerman representing the Gold Coast, as young African delegates from the Gold Coast, Nigeria, Ethiopia and South Africa debate race and prejudice — 1956. pic.twitter.com/lXKzt4tgeE

— GHANA FACTS & HISTORY (@GhanaianMuseum) August 29, 2026