What happened this week?
1. Conference on Slavery and Reparatory Justice
On 19 June, African and Caribbean countries held a “Next Steps” conference on slavery and reparatory justice in Ghana's capital, Accra. The conference was attended by heads of state, policymakers, academics, legal experts, and civil society groups.
Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama said: “History does not ask us to inherit guilt, but it asks us to inherit responsibility.”
The conference concluded with a 19-point framework calling for a “full, formal and unconditional apology” and reparation. The document stated: “The enduring consequences of slavery continue to manifest through structural inequalities, economic disparities, systemic racism, cultural erasure and development challenges.”
It adds: “The recommendations from Accra must now be matched with concrete institutional reforms, including stronger protections for diasporans who return to the continent, and a deliberate strategy to use Africa’s creative industries as a vehicle for reparation advocacy and narrative control.”
2. Ethiopia
On 21 June, Ethiopia’s National Elections Board (NENE) declared Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed as the winner of the general election, securing 438 of the 501 seats. The Fano militia in Amhara and the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) in Oromia, both seeking autonomy, rejected the elections and the results.
What are the issues?
1. Africa: The enduring historical injustice and the global debate on justice
During the 15th- 19th centuries, over 12-15 million African men, women and children were captured and sold as slaves to Europe and the Americas. The historic cost continues to shape many African countries’ political and economic trajectories. The Accra Conference is the first major step towards creating mechanisms for justice for the enslaved and their descendants. It came after the UN adopted the resolution declaring the transatlantic slave trade as the “gravest crime against humanity” on 25 March. However, the resolution and the Accra conference are fueling international debates on reparation and apology.
The argument by the supporters of formal apology and reparation is that the economic and political structures that were deliberately imposed on many African countries have and continue to cause structural inequalities on the continent. They argue that while the process enriched the colonisers, it left African countries with immense gaps in wealth and development, accompanied by political crisis and conflicts.
The responses from the former colonisers have been different. In 2022, the Netherlands apologised for the Dutch role in slavery. In 2001, France recognised slavery as a crime against humanity. The UK government has never extended a formal apology for transatlantic slavery. Most recently, in 2024, the UK’s Prime Minister Kier Starmer, during the Commonwealth meeting, described the slave trade as “abhorrent.” The UK has long rejected a formal apology or reparations, saying that today’s institutions cannot be held responsible for past wrongs. The US has also maintained a similar stance that it will not recognise legal right for reparation “for historical wrongs which were not illegal under the international law” at the time they occurred.
The debate is also around the lack of consensus on the structure of reparations. Many opposing countries argue that reparations never reach the enslaved. The majority of the reparations that were paid during the decolonisation period reached the slave owners and never the enslaved.
2. Ethiopia: Abiy’s authoritarian shift and worsening conflicts
For Abiy, it was a comfortable election victory. However, for Ethiopia’s democracy, the victory points to two major challenges: Abiy’s authoritarian shift and worsening conflicts.
Abiy Ahmed came to power in 2018, ending the then-authoritarian government under the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). With widespread popular support, his initial year in power was marked by the release of political prisoners, journalists and activists and the overturning of restrictive laws. He also ended the conflict with Eritrea, which earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019.
However, all the achievements were reversed after the beginning of the Tigray conflict in 2020. The 2022 November Pretoria Agreement formally ended the Tigray War between the federal government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). But the provisions within the agreement are yet to be implemented; the slow implementation is pushing the conflict to the brink of another violent wave. Besides Tigray, Amhara, Oromia, and Afar regions are under security risk, challenged by several ethnic militias seeking autonomy. The elections were not conducted in Tigray and parts of Oromia and Amhara, citing “unfavourable conditions.”
Journalists, opposition parties and dissents have been repressed violently, citing security concerns. According to the election board, over 50 opposition parties were running against Abiy’s Prosperity Party; however, none have national support. The opposition parties are fragmented across ethnic and regional lines.
What does it mean?
1. Conference on slavery and reparation justice
It took 80 years for the UN to pass a resolution recognising the slave trade as the gravest crime against humanity. The conference in Accra is a major output-oriented achievement following the resolution. Although the resolution is not legally binding, it was a major international milestone towards global recognition; the recognition of slavery not only as the gravest crime, but also that a genuine apology and justice are long overdue. While Africa and Caribbean countries take a regional effort to convert the resolution into action, the global debates imply that a genuine apology and sustainable justice is a long road.
2. Ethiopia
Abiy’s election victory was unchallenged. The Abiy government’s repressive policy, fragmented opposition, and conflicts have challenged the credibility of the election process. The election victory consolidated Abiy’s authoritarian shift; a drawback to Ethiopia’s position as a stable democracy in the Horn of Africa. Exclusion of Tigray, Amhara and Oromia from the election is likely to increase the tensions. It risks another wave of full-scale violence. Abiy Ahmed, who came to power by ending an authoritarian regime through liberal reforms, has ironically emerged as another authoritarian leader. This trend is not new to Africa. Sudan, Tunisia, and Senegal, and several African countries have or are going through a similar trajectory. The structural issues triggering this trend must be delved into separately.
