ACCRA—African and Caribbean nations endorsed a 19-point reparations plan on Friday that calls for formal apologies from countries that profited from the transatlantic slave trade, comprehensive debt relief, and the creation of a Global Reparations Fund. The plan, agreed at the close of a three-day conference in Ghana, was produced jointly by the African Union and the CARICOM Commission on Reparatory Justice and will be presented at the next U.N. General Assembly.
The document asks for cancellation of debts for affected states, reforms to international financial institutions to improve representation for Global South countries, restitution of looted cultural property and ancestral remains, and climate justice financing. It also seeks measures addressing the specific abuses suffered by African women and girls under slavery, and urges diaspora return and citizenship pathways while preserving coastal forts and castles as memorials. The plan does not name which countries should issue apologies.
The conference followed a U.N. resolution in March that recognised transatlantic slavery as the “gravest crime against humanity,” which passed with 123 votes in favour after opposition or abstentions from the United States, Israel and several European countries. Advocates say the reparations push responds to the long-term consequences of trafficking that displaced at least 12.5 million Africans between the 15th and 19th centuries, including entrenched racism and economic inequality.
Speakers at the event struck a careful tone on responsibility. Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama said delegates do not inherit personal guilt but do inherit responsibility to address history. Leaders from Namibia, Liberia, Senegal, Barbados and São Tomé and Príncipe attended in person, and French President Emmanuel Macron spoke remotely, acknowledging the brutality of slavery and saying reparations should not be treated as a final, transactional gesture.