In the words of The Guardian, he "has secured a reputation as one of the UK's most pioneering film-makers [whose] poetic works have grappled with race, identity and post-colonial attitudes for over three decades.

A tri-campus three-day event entitled "Cinematic Translations: The Work of John Akomfrah" was held in November 2013 at the University of Toronto, where he was artist-in-residence.

[12] A Harvard Film Archive critique of his work states: "Akomfrah has become a cinematic counterpart to such commentators of and contributors to the culture of the Black diaspora as Stuart Hall, Paul Gilroy, Greg Tate and Henry Louis Gates.

[21][19] Vertigo Sea premiered in the UK at the Arnolfini in Bristol (16 January–10 April 2016)[22] coinciding with an exhibition of new and recent work by Akomfrah being shown at Lisson Gallery.

[23] In October 2016, his 40-minute two-screen video installation Auto Da Fé, filmed in Barbados and inspired by the theme of 400 years of migration and religious persecution, went on show.

[19] Vertigo Sea premiered in the UK at the Arnolfini in Bristol (16 January–10 April 2016)[22] coinciding with an exhibition of new and recent work by Akomfrah being shown in Cardiff.

[24] Purple (2017), a 62-minute, six-screen video installation commissioned for the prominent Curve Gallery space at the Barbican, London, Akomfrah describes as "a response to [the] Anthropocene".

[26] The installation has travelled to the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid; Bildmuseet Umeå, Sweden; the Boston Institute of Contemporary Art, Massachusetts; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, in Washington, DC; and Museu Coleção Berardo, Lisbon.

Reflecting on The Columbian Exchange – the widespread transfer of plants, animals, precious metals, commodities, populations, technology, diseases and ideas between the Americas, Afro-Eurasia and Europe from the 1400s onwards – the film was shown at the Sharjah Biennial, before receiving its UK premiere at The Box in Plymouth where was on show until 2th June, 2024.

"[40] Akomfrah was appointed as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to art and film making.