Ghana in Search of Regional Integration Agenda 7 The leadership role of Ghana was made possible when it became the 81 st member of the UN and joined other organisations such as the Commission for Technical Cooperation in Africa South of the Sahara(CTCA). The CTCA was made up of the colonial masters of Africa, apartheid South Africa and Liberia. Ghana's membership of the UN boosted her image globally. After months of diplomatic lobbying, Ghana convened the Conference of Independent States of Africa, in Accra, on April 15, 1958, a year after her independence. The lobbying was done among other reasons to allay the fears of Liberia and other independent states such as Egypt who were of the opinion that Nkrumah wanted to use the Conference as a launching pad to seek a leadership role in Africa. 10 According to Ako Adjei, the then Minister for External Affairs(April 1959-May 1961), Nkrumah had no such motives. All he wanted was the opportunity for the newly independent states to get to know each other and establish the necessary contacts where needed. Such a revelation emphasizes a key challenge confronting regional integration. The issue of mistrust among the leadership of the integrating states. The Conference did not have the objective of discussing the liberation of the colonised African states. This is because Nkrumah did not want to divert the attention of the All African Congress that was scheduled to be held later in 1958 purposively to discuss the issue of liberation. That notwithstanding, the issue of liberation was raised at the Conference. The Conference was attended by Sudan, Egypt, Tunisia, Liberia, Libya, Morocco and Ghana. Although it is alleged that the Conference chalked some successes, the only success of the Conference as recorded by Scott Thompson was Nkrumah being established as'something more than a local leader' 11 . Without being fully convinced about the reasons given by Nkrumah for the holding of the Conference, apart from asserting his leadership weight in Africa affairs, it is correct to conclude that the Conference was really successful. Yet again, with Ghana at the fore front, the All African Congress took place in Accra in December 1958. On the agenda was the need for the total liberation of the African Continent from the dungeons of colonialism and the general development of Africa. This dispensation witnessed the settling of several African Americans from the Diaspora in Ghana notably Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois, who commenced the Encyclopaedia Africana Project and George Padmore. 12 The leadership prowess of Kwame Nkrumah was made manifest in Ghana's relations with Guinea. After attaining independence in October 1958, following an empire-wide referendum rejecting continued French tutelage, Guinea needed financial aid to support its economy. Ghana was the only country that went to its aid 10 W. Scott Thompson, op. cit., 1969, p. 28. 11 Ibid 12 Kwame Botwe-Asamoah, Kwame Nkrumah's Politico-Cultural Thoughts and Policies: An African-centred paradigm for the Second Phase of the African Revolution accessed from informaworld.com on 04/10/08.