The rugged trajectory of Africa’s Reparations Agenda: from aspiration to claim and action

Abstract

The first advances of Africa’s reparations agenda are traceable to the First International Conference on Reparations held in Nigeria in 1990. The profile of the subject was promptly raised to that of a regional undertaking at the level of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 1991. The continent is henceforth seen to stumble into institutional formulations that lack the support infrastructure and formidability to operate. The momentum for reparations set by the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action of 2001 faltered in Africa, primarily because the continent prioritised development assistance, investment and market reforms with the very powers responsible for reparations. More than two decades after this conference, it is increasingly evident that reparations are crucial for dismantling the structural impoverishment that undermines even the most well-intentioned reforms. The African Union (AU) is currently resuscitating the continent’s reparations agenda, amid some gains by Africa’s diaspora, protracted litigation and advances by certain African societies and the renewal of the UN International Decade for People of African Descent, which is based on the pillars of recognition, justice and development. A continent’s reparations agenda must be guided by clear and established principles of engagement, driven by a formidable and sustainable institution, with continental-wide representation and consensus. A holistic agenda must unify the continent, in its diversity, around the core objective. It should include strategies that exert influence over the nations owing reparations to fulfil their obligations and be supported by authoritative African-centred thought leadership rooted in an authentic African conscience. It is a multi-sectoral, multi-dimensional, multidisciplinary, multi-layered and resilient venture.