Image Credit: African Union
In February 2025, participants at the 38th African Union Summit, taking place in Addis Ababa, observed one of the most historical moments, as the African Union launched the African Union 2025 Reparations Agenda. This reparations agenda that addresses centuries of injustices, including transatlantic slavery, colonial expropriation, and structural underdevelopment, will lay a foundation for healing and sometime in the future restoration. At the center of this should be a recognition that historical trauma is collective and contemporary call to action by diaspora activists in Washington, D.C. and in Lagos, preceded by the fact that the the history of reparations from 1919 Pan-African Congress, to contemporary reparations work, extending from the time of W.E.B. Du Bois in 1919, through the OAU period with Kwame Nkrumah’s push for reparations, and to the 2001 Abuja Declaration, is long overdue. This report seeks to provide a context for the AU 2025 Reparations Agenda, as well as to compare the AU reparations framework in relation to the normative standard of reparatory justice as both an ethical matter and a policy issue.
A. Early Calls:
Formal calls for reparations in the context of Pan‐Africanism were first made at the 1919 Pan‐African Congress in Paris. Convened by W.E.B. Du Bois with delegates from the US, the French West Indies, Haiti, Europe, Liberia, and Ethiopia and asked the Versailles Peace Conference to demand “political and economic rights” and to ensure that the African territories be held in trust by the international community, an early harbinger of future reparations arguments. In a manifesto, Du Bois denounced “racial discrimination” and “colonial exploitation,” and held colonizers liable for centuries of expropriation and forced labor.
In the post‐World War II period, the intellectual labor commenced in 1919 found new life among the emerging African nationalist movements. By 1963, the Organization of African Unity (OAU) was founded to pursue decolonization and Pan‐Africanism. Although the OAU’s founding charter didn’t make any reparations demands, it provided for self‐determination, restitution of expropriated lands, and condemned colonialism and apartheid. Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana and the founding chair of the OAU, frequently remarked on the need for economic justice in post-colonial states, establishing the earliest precedent for reparations should be pursued as an intergovernmental initiative.
B. 2001 Abuja Declaration & Beyond:
In April 1993, African leaders met for the First Pan-African Conference on Reparations in Abuja, Nigeria, resulting in the significant Abuja Proclamation on Reparations. The proclamation stated that Africans collectively had a right to reparatory justice by former colonial powers and private actors for the “negative social and economic repercussions of the Atlantic slave trade, colonialism, and neocolonialism.” The Proclamation requested the establishment of a Continental reparations commission to determine losses and mobilize diplomatic pressure. The Abuja Proclamation invigorated local activists and officials of the Organization of African Unity (OAU)/ African Union (AU), and eventually led the AU to adopt reparations as a continental priority after subsequent summits.
Two years later, in September 2001, the AU attended the United Nations World Conference against Racism (Durban) where it co-sponsored the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. The global declaration reaffirmed reparations for slavery and colonization as a moral and political priority. In 2005, the AU formed ad hoc committees to gather information about the economic impact of slavery and colonialism. By 2010, the AU produced preliminary estimates of capital flight of an estimated US$150 billion (in 2018 USD) during the years 1450-1900. These events revealed the AU’s developing reparations policy path from moral calls to action to research and advocacy as institutionally embedded.
The Road to a 2025 Agenda:
The mid‐2010s marked a resurge in the conversation surrounding reparations globally. Following the 2014 Accra Pan‐African Congress and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, civil society and governments began to revisit a number of Africa’s reparatory claims. In June 2015, ECOWAS member states passed a resolution calling on the AU to “develop concrete modalities for reparatory justice,” marking yet another move towards a wider Pan‐African reparations conversation. In July 2018, at the 31st Ordinary Session in Nouakchott, Mauritania, heads of state recommended that the AU develop a formal Reparations Task Force; a recommendation also made to include stakeholders and civil society for wider range of consultation and development of the AU reparations agenda. Furthermore, at the end of the same year, CARICOM and the Institute of the Black World 21st Century made complementary demands urging all African Heads of State to take a unified position at the UN General Assembly. As a result, by the end of 2019 at least 20 AU member states had committed themselves to undertaking feasibility studies on reparations (not all states made formal commitments). There is definite consolidation of a transnational Pan‐African reparations discourse linking activists in New York, Lagos and Accra.
Formal 2021 – 2024 Preparations:
The Assembly of Heads of State, in February 2021, adopted Decision EX.CL/Dec. 1234(XLIV) respectively to establish a Reparations Task Force as part of the Office of the Legal Counsel during the 34th Ordinary Session in Addis Ababa.
Task Force membership included academics such as Dr. Aisha Banda, as the lead researcher; a representative from key regional entities such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), The African Diaspora Division, and civil society organizations such as N’COBRA. The interim feasibility study released as a working document for the AU in June 2023, estimated the total economic losses at $350 billion (in 2022 USD), including labor theft, natural resource extraction, and capital flight. The working study also considered options for models of debt‐forgiveness, and hybrid U.S. Treasury bonds as potential funding instruments.
Anatomy of the 2025 Reparations Agenda
A. Core Proposals & Components
The finalized AU 2025 Reparations Agenda is structured around five interrelated pillars:
- Historical Research & Documentation:
- Establishment of an AU Centre of Excellence for Reparations Studies in Addis Ababa to collate archives, testimonies, and economic data.
- Commission scholarly partnerships with Cambridge University’s Centre for Slavery Research and the Brookings Institution’s Africa Growth Initiative to publish peer‐reviewed estimates of losses per region.
- Legal & Diplomatic Framework:
- Drafting of a “Reparations Charter” (AU/Charter/RTF/2025), a nonbinding instrument urging member states to incorporate reparations clauses into bilateral treaties with former colonial powers (e.g., France, the United Kingdom).
- Authorization for the AU’s Office of the Legal Counsel to lodge “amicus curiae” briefs in international courts, particularly when litigation arises concerning restitution.
- Financial Mechanisms:
- Creation of the African Reparations Fund (ARF), capitalized initially by mandatory contributions (0.2 percent of GDP) from member states starting in January 2026, supplemented by voluntary diaspora bonds and philanthropic grants.
- Proposal for a “Diaspora Sovereign Bond” to channel remittances toward reparations, with tax incentives for investors in European and North American markets.
- Social & Economic Programs:
- Allocation of ARF proceeds to targeted sectors: rural infrastructure in West Africa (roads, water systems), education scholarships for descendants of formerly enslaved Africans, and healthcare initiatives in regions with high historic mortality rates during colonial expropriation.
- Collaboration with UNESCO to integrate reparations curricula into national education systems by 2027.
- Diaspora Engagement Strategy:
- Formalizing a “Global African Diaspora Network” linking continental diaspora hubs, such as the African American Reparations Commission (AARC) in Washington, DC; the African Caribbean Reparations Network in Trinidad; and the Reparation Implementation Council in London.
- Quarterly “Diaspora‐Africa Reparations Summits” synchronized with the AU’s biannual Policy Organs meetings to track progress.
An excerpt from the Draft Continental Framework states:
“We acknowledge the transgenerational, multigenerational harms of colonial expropriation and slavery, and the obligations of former colonial powers and institutions to facilitate restorative justice. The Reparations Fund shall embody African agency and diaspora solidarity, ensuring transparent, accountable disbursement mechanisms”
B. Key Actors & Stakeholders
Leading the reparations drive is Dr. Aisha Banda, appointed by the AU Commission as chairperson of the Reparations Task Force. Her co‐members include:
- Moussa Faki Mahamat, former AU Chairperson (2021–2024), who championed the reparations theme at the 2025 Summit.
- Ambassador Gabrielle Kouassi (Côte d’Ivoire), designated AU Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, tasked with brokering diplomatic agreements with former colonial states.
- Representatives from ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) and SADC (Southern African Development Community) ensured regional coherence.
- Diaspora voices like Dr. Brenda A. Stevenson (University of California, Los Angeles), who co‐leased a diaspora advisory panel with N’COBRA’s national coordinator, Simeon Alade (Philadelphia).
Major diasporic organizations enlisted include the African American Reparations Commission (AARC), the Institute of the Black World 21st Century, and The Coalition of Black Trade Unionists. These stakeholders shaped both research priorities and diaspora bond structuring.
Debates, Critiques & Challenges
A. Supportive Arguments
Moral Imperative:
Scholars like Kwame Anthony Appiah (Chancellor, University of Oxford) argue that reparations represent not just financial redress but moral accountability. By acknowledging historical wrongs, reparations can “heal collective wounds” and reaffirm African dignity. Theologians such as Rev. Dr. Osagyefo Sekou from the Global Black Church further contend that restorative justice transcends material compensation, enabling spiritual and communal reconciliation.
Economic Justice:
World Bank and UNCTAD data underscore that Sub‐Saharan Africa lost an estimated US$500 billion in GDP growth during the colonial era (1870–1960) due to resource extraction and forced labor. Reparations could help bridge widening wealth gaps: a 2023 Brookings report estimated that reallocating 0.2 percent of European GDP toward African reparations would reduce continental debt‐to‐GDP ratios by 10 percent over a decade.
Global Precedents:
Comparative precedents lend credence to the AU’s approach. Germany’s reparations to Holocaust survivors, formalized in the Luxembourg Agreement (1952), disbursed US$132 billion (2023 USD) over 70 years. The United States’ Civil Liberties Act (1988) compensated Japanese Americans who were interned during World War II, US$20 000 per survivor, along with a formal apology. These cases illustrate how reparations can coexist with reconciliation, preserving diplomatic ties while addressing historical injustices.
B. Opposing Views
Political Pushback:
Not all member states are enthusiastic. In March 2022, Tanzania’s foreign minister publicly cautioned that “the true cost of reparations both financial and diplomatic could exceed projections, risking fiscal instability”. Similarly, Algeria’s representative at the 2023 Accra Reparations Conference warned against “overly ambitious estimates” that might jeopardize trade negotiations with the EU under the AfCFTA framework.
Logistical Concerns:
Critics question the methodology of valuing centuries‐old injustices. An analysis by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (2023) warned that “inflation‐adjusted figures for losses rely on contested assumptions,” and that “identifying direct beneficiaries across multiple generations may prove administratively onerous”. Furthermore, concerns about “elite capture” persist: observers note that past AU funds (e.g., Pan‐African Parliament budgets) were occasionally misallocated, raising fears that reparations could face similar governance challenges.
Diaspora Disagreements:
Within the African American community, debate rages between those who prioritize U.S. domestic reparations versus broader continental efforts. While organizations like N’COBRA endorse the AU 2025 Reparations Agenda as “a necessary complement to U.S. reparations,” others caution that “diverting diaspora activism toward an AU framework could dilute pressure on U.S. policymakers”. This schism reflects broader questions about where diaspora loyalties and strategic priorities should lie.
From the conclusion of the 1919 Pan-African Congress to the formal launch of the African Union 2025 Reparations Agenda, the arc of reparations intentions has moved from activism, to scholarship, and now is into diplomacy with the underlying goal of reparations. By embedding reparations into continental frameworks, exclusively via substantive research, legal processes, and economic models, the AU intends to restore and amend past injustices while also allowing a shared future for Africans and their frames of reference in the diaspora. As the debate continues about the costs, logistics, and overall roles of the diaspora, the 2025 Agenda is a moment of historical significance for desirous repairs, bringing a moment of connection and solidarity between continents and platforms, and a message to former colonial powers that African agency can and will seek redress. For the Africans in Accra, Cape Town, Lagos, and diaspora communities in Lagos, the beginning of the process, and toward national, cultural, and global reconciliations is underway. This journey of determining the reparations roadmap unveils the hopes of both collective and individual units, while confirming that confronting historical trauma can lead to structural change, closing down historical legs of development that no longer serve Africa, and ultimately a means to sustain the evolving ties that bind the diaspora to Africa.
Anand Subramanian is a freelance photographer and content writer based out of Tamil Nadu, India. Having a background in Engineering always made him curious about life on the other side of the spectrum. He leapt forward towards the Photography life and never looked back. Specializing in Documentary and Portrait photography gave him an up-close and personal view into the complexities of human beings and those experiences helped him branch out from visual to words. Today he is mentoring passionate photographers and writing about the different dimensions of the art world.
