The African Union Commission and the Government of the Republic of Ghana organized a conference in Accra, Ghana, centered on the topic of reparation.

The conference, held from November 14th to 17th, was convened under the patronage of the president of Ghana, with the theme ‘Building a United Front to Advance the Cause of Justice and the Payment of Reparations to Africans.’

The event was attended by selected Heads of State and Government from Africa and the Americas, legal experts, policymakers, academics, stakeholders, and reparationists from the Caribbean, North and South America, the UN System, and the African Union (AU).

One of the guest speakers at the conference was the Chairperson of the Antigua and Barbuda Reparations Commission and one of the vice-chairs of the CARICOM Reparations Commission (CRC), Ambassador Dorbrene O’Marde.

Ambassador O’Marde spoke on ‘Reparations in Action,’ sharing the CARICOM Reparations Commission’s decade-long history, highlighting its successes, challenges, and opportunities.

He also recommended organizational structures and approaches that may prove successful to African countries now preparing to engage in the quest for reparations.

At the conference, the President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, called for a united front with African leaders on demands for reparations for transatlantic slavery and colonial-era damages.

He insisted that ‘no amount of money can restore the damage caused by the transatlantic slave trade and its consequences and emphasized that reparations are a matter that the world can no longer ignore and must confront.

He asserted that the entire continent of Africa deserves a formal apology from the European nations involved in the slave trade and called on Africa to work together with the Caribbean to advance reparations in a valid demand for justice.

Ambassador O’Marde has praised the vision of the Government of Ghana and emphasized that an important goal of the CRC – to forge and participate fully in a global movement for reparations – was fully met at the conference.

The resulting partnership between the fifty-five-member African Union (AU) and CARICOM will further intensify political and diplomatic pressure on Europe, to recognize its moral and legal responsibilities to fully engage with the reparations movement.