By Liliane Umubyeyi
Imagine this: a continent scarred by centuries of violence and exploitation, now standing united to demand justice. This weekend, the African Union (AU) is kicking off its annual summit with a bold, historic declaration: 2025 will be the year of Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations. This marks the first time in its history that the AU has placed reparations front and centre.
At first, you might wonder: is this really the right moment? Former colonial powers have shown little interest in addressing their past, and global leaders like the US president, Donald Trump, are actively dismantling international institutions. But maybe this is exactly the right moment for Africa to demand accountability, and for Europe’s democracies to finally offer a meaningful response. As the world grapples with shifting power dynamics, Africa’s call for justice is more urgent than ever.
Of course, the call for reparations isn’t new. In 1993, the AU urged the international community to recognise “a unique and unprecedented moral debt … the debt of compensation to the Africans as the most humiliated and exploited people of the last four centuries of modern history”. Despite this powerful appeal, the response has largely been silence.
The resistance to reparations isn’t new, either. I recall a conversation in Paris last year with an executive from a major international development organisation, who asked me: do any heads of state genuinely take reparations seriously? That question summed up the dismissive attitude Europe has long held towards Africa’s demands for justice. Even after the global protests over George Floyd’s murder in 2020, European leaders offered little beyond simply expressing remorse and, in some cases, issuing formal apologies. When discussions turned to actual reparations, they were quickly shut down.
Yet Russia and China have amplified the issue of colonial accountability, including at the UN, using it to challenge European influence in Africa.
It’s important to acknowledge that Africa’s experience of injustice and inequality under slavery and colonialism isn’t just an unfortunate episode of the past. The impact of these centuries of subjugation on many African nations is still felt today. The transatlantic slave trade uprooted 15 to 20 million Africans, leaving behind chronic insecurity, conflict, and stunted institutional, social and economic development. Some economic studies suggest that without the slave trade, Africa today would be at a development level comparable with Latin America or Asia.
Some people say Africans are not deserving of reparations because their ancestors played a role in the slave trade; but history tells a different story. More often than not, it was Europeans who initiated the slavery through violent raids, capturing people by force. Even when local chiefs were involved, many were pressured or coerced, and even the kingdoms that fully cooperated ultimately didn’t escape. The colonisation that followed was brutal and devastating. The so-called scramble for Africa saw European powers carve up the continent with arbitrary borders, disregarding the geography of ethnic groups. These artificial borders have fuelled conflicts that have prevented the economic development of African societies.
When people argue that today’s Europeans shouldn’t be held responsible for any crimes of the past, they ignore the fact that many colonial-era structures that uphold inequality between former colonies and European states remain. Take, for instance, the CFA franc, a colonial currency system designed to benefit France, which continues to cripple the economies of the African countries that use it. The same applies to the rules governing the international financial institutions, which were established during the colonial era and have barely been reviewed since. In the International Monetary Fund, for example, a British person’s vote is worth 23 times more than a Nigerian’s vote.
So, as the AU summit begins, one question looms: will Europe finally listen? Trump’s return could push Europe to rethink its indifference. Africa, which holds 30% of the global reserves of critical minerals, could become a key player in new global alliances.
Under Trump’s leadership, the US – once Europe’s most important ally – could make Europe more vulnerable. The US president’s threat to seize Greenland and impose significant tariffs is a challenge to Europe’s economy and its territorial integrity.
In this new global order, it is in the best interests of European democracies – that is, those that still demand respect for fundamental rights and the rule of law – to strengthen their other partnerships worldwide. With Africa, the starting point should be seriously addressing demands for justice and reparations for colonial and slavery-related crimes.
So, to answer that development executive’s question: yes, the demands for reparations are serious. And it’s not just about morality. As Trump takes a wrecking ball to the global order, for Europe this could be about survival itself.
Liliane Umubyeyi is co-founder and executive director of African Futures Lab
The oped Thanks to Trump, it is now in Europe’s self-interest to compensate Africa for slavery first appeared on TheGuardian.
