The Akan people are an ethnic group found predominantly in Ghana and the Ivory Coast. Akans are the majority in both of these countries and overall have a population of 40 million people. The Akan speak Kwa languages.

The Akan are believed to have migrated to their current location from the Sahel between the 10th and 12th Century. The kingdom of Bonoman was established as early as the 11th century as a trading state between the Akan and their neighbors, especially those from Djenné, Timbuktu, Bornu among others. A gold boom in the Akan area between the 12th and 13th centuries brought wealth to numerous Akan peoples. During different phases of the Kingdom of Bonoman groups of Akans migrated out of the area to create numerous states based predominantly on gold mining and trading of cash crops. This brought wealth to numerous Akan states like Akwamu which stretched all the way to modern Benin and ultimately led to the rise of the most powerful Akan empire, the Empire of Ashanti.

From the 15th century to the 19th century the Akan people dominated gold mining and trading in the region and, from the 17th century on, they were among the most powerful groups in west Africa. They fought against European colonists to maintain autonomy. By the early 1900s all Akan lands were colonies or protectorates of the French and British. On the 6th of March 1957 Akan lands in the Gold Coast rejected British rule and, led by Kwame Nkrumah, were joined to British Togoland to form the independent nation of Ghana. The Ivory Coast became independent on 7 August 1960.