Reparations for Africa and the African Diaspora, according to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, are long overdue. Consequently, he has urged a broader discussion of the subject.
“African and African diaspora reparations are long overdue. Reparations are only a topic of discussion when they relate to Africa and Africans, as is predictable. In Accra, Ghana, yesterday, President Akufo-Addo opened a four-day meeting with the theme: “Advancing justice: Reparations and racial healing.” He stated, “We feel the requests for reparations for Africa are just.”
But according to the President, such a discourse would be ineffective without talking about racial reconciliation.
He believed that the European countries that participated in the slave trade owed a formal apology to the entire continent of Africa for the crimes and harm the trade had caused to the people, psyche, image, and character of Africans around the world.
He added that no amount of money could undo the harm caused by the transatlantic slave trade and its long-lasting ramifications.
“We need to heal from the wrongs of the past in order to capitalize on the opportunities that await us in the future.”
In order to advance the reparations cause, President Akufo-Addo urged the AU to talk to “our kith and kin from the Diaspora.” He said that the Caribbean community had taken the initiative in the reparations discussion.
President Akufo-Addo supported his call for reparations by citing some cases in which they had been paid. He recalled that when the British abolished slavery, all the owners of slaves received compensation totaling 20 million pounds sterling, or the equivalent of 20 billion pounds sterling today, but the slaves themselves received nothing.
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is providing funding for the summit, which is being co-hosted by the AU Commission, the Africa Transitional Justice Legacy Fund (ATJLF), and the Africa-American Institute (AAI), and Global Black.
It is a component of a time-limited, multi-year program that will aid in the creation of an integrated, comprehensive strategy and advocacy agenda for reparatory justice. It also provides an opportunity to holistically discuss and reflect on methods for racial healing following the trans-Atlantic slave trade, slavery, and colonialism.
