Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo, called for a united front with African leaders on demands for reparations for transatlantic slavery and colonial-era damages.
Some Western leaders have recently moved to acknowledge the wrongs of the colonial era in Africa and museums have begun returning stolen African treasures and artefacts.
But the concept of paying financial reparations over a trade that shipped millions as slaves from West and Central Africa remains vague.
Ghana’s leader has been vocal in calling for reparations and used his speech to the UN General Assembly this year to demand more acknowledgement of the impact of colonial exploitation.
“No amount of money can restore the damage caused by the transatlantic slave trade and its consequences. But surely, this is a matter that the world must confront and can no longer ignore,” Akufo-Addo said at a reparations conference with African leaders in Accra.
“Even before these discussions on reparations conclude, the entire continent of Africa deserves a formal apology from the European nations involved in the slave trade,” he added.
Akufo-Addo called on Africa to work together with the Caribbean to advance reparations, labelling it a “valid demand for justice.”
