IThis is a magician: a continent that was wounded by centuries of violence and exploitation, and is now united to demand justice. This weekend, the African Union (AU) will launch its annual summit with a bold and historic declaration. 2025 will be the year of justice for Africans and African people through reparations. This is the first time in history that the AU has put compensation at the forefront and center.
You may wonder at first: is this really the right moment? The former colonial powers have shown little interest in dealing with their past, and global leaders like US President Donald Trump are actively dismantling international institutions. But perhaps this is the perfect moment for Africa to demand accountability and European democracy to ultimately provide a meaningful response. As the world is committed to changing the dynamics of power, Africa’s call for justice is more urgent than ever.
Of course, the appeal for compensation is not new. In 1993, the AU recognized the international community as “a unique and unprecedented moral debt… a debt of compensation to Africans is the debt of compensation as the most humiliating and exploited people of the past four centuries of modern history.” I urged him to do so. Despite this powerful appeal, the response was primarily silent.
Resistance to compensation is not new either. It reminds me of a conversation I had with an executive from a major international development organization in Paris last year. He asked me. The question summed up the mildly mississing attitude that Europe has long held to Africa’s demands for justice. Even after the global protests against George Floyd’s murder in 2020, European leaders have expressed regret and in some cases issued formal apology, but provided little. They were soon closed when the debate became actual compensation.
However, Russia and China are using it to amplify the issue of colonial accountability, including the United Nations, and challenge European influences in Africa.
It is important to acknowledge that Africa’s experiences of injustice and inequality under slavery and colonialism are not unfortunate episodes of the past. The impact of these centuries of conquests on many African countries is still felt today. The transatlantic slave trade uprooted 15-20 million Africans, leaving behind institutional, social and economic development of chronic anxiety, conflict and development. Some economic studies suggest that without the slave trade, Africa today will be at a level of development comparable to Latin America or Asia.
Some say that Africans are not worthy of reparations because their ancestors played a role in the slave trade. But history tells a different story. It was often Europeans who launched slavery through violent attacks and captured people with force. Even when local chiefs were involved, many were pressured or forced, and even a fully cooperated kingdom did not escape in the end. The subsequent colonization was brutal and devastating. In the so-called African scramble, European powers carved continents at arbitrary volitional boundaries, neglecting the geography of ethnic groups. These artificial boundaries promote conflicts that are hindering the economic development of African society.
When people argue that today’s Europeans should not be held responsible for past crimes, they remained with many colonial structures protecting inequality between former colonies and European states. Ignore the fact that it is. For example, consider the CFA Franc, a colonial monetary system designed to benefit France. The same applies to rules governing international financial institutions established during the colonial era and have been rarely reviewed since. For example, at the International Monetary Fund, British votes are worth 23 times more than Nigerian votes.
Nesrine Malik and Jason Okundaye offer weekly black lives and cultures from around the world
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So, as the AU summit begins, one question comes close. Will Europe finally listen? Trump’s return could urge Europe to reconsider its indifference. Africa, which holds 30% of the global reserves of key minerals, could become a key player in the new global alliance.
Under Trump’s leadership, the US was Europe’s most important ally, but it was able to make Europe more vulnerable. The US president’s threat to seize Greenland and impose substantial tariffs is a challenge to the integrity of Europe’s economy and its territory.
This new global order is the greatest interest of European democracy, that is, those who still demand respect for the fundamental rights and the rule of law and the rule of law, to strengthen other partnerships around the world. In Africa, the starting point is to take seriously the demand for justice and reparation for crimes related to colonial and slavery.
Therefore, to answer the development executive question: Yes, the demand for compensation is serious. And it’s not just morality. For Europe, this may be about survival itself, as Trump has a ball that destroys its global order.
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