Algeria seeks common African ‘declaration’ on impact of colonialism
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
What you need to know:
- For Africa, however, calls for reparations may have to begin with first uniting on what to demand.
- The AU itself admits that the impact of colonialism goes beyond merely monetary compensation.
Algeria has invited policy makers from around the continent for a meeting to draw up a common ‘declaration’ on the impact of colonialism on African countries, seeking a unified stance on one of the enduring vices on the continent.
The conference due on November 30 to December 1 in Algiers will form part of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s resolve to rally African and Caribbean countries to a common position in demanding reparations from colonial powers.
The Conference on ‘Crimes of Colonialism in Africa’ is a follow-up on the African Union’s theme of 2025: Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations which had been agreed on in February to pursue justice for colonialism and slavery.
A dispatch from Algiers on Saturday said the gathering to bring together African ministers, Caribbean leaders, international and history scholars as well as rights activists is based on Algeria’s own history of paying a “a heavy price for colonialism and remains deeply committed to defending the dignity, memory and rights of African peoples.”
“Under the leadership of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, Algeria is working to strengthen collective reflection and action aimed at criminalising colonialism, slavery, racial segregation, and apartheid as crimes against humanity, in line with relevant recommendations from the African Union,” it said.
The African and the Caribbean partners have been calling for reparations for both colonialism and slavery, for the last two decades.
In September, they gathered at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa where they included modern problems they say are rooted on the two vices. They cited climate change, debt burden and routine pandemics as impacts of colonialism and slavery where African and Caribbean people’s resources and manpower were looted.
Unified position
At the time, President William Ruto of Kenya said that reparations are both “a moral imperative and a unifying cause” for Africa.
“Reparative justice must mean dismantling the structures of inequality, lifting or easing unsustainable debt burdens and addressing the chronic underdevelopment imposed on our peoples by centuries of exploitation,” President Ruto said at the conference in Addis Ababa.
For Africa, however, calls for reparations may have to begin with first uniting on what to demand. Algeria says it is consolidating “a unified position on historical justice, reparations, restitution of cultural heritage and preservation of collective memory.”
Yet the African Union itself admits that the impact of colonialism goes beyond merely monetary compensation. Some war veterans in places like Kenya have sued former colonial masters and won compensation, but legal observers argued the money wasn’t enough to be shared by all victims.
Then there is the cultural damages of colonialism and slavery where important artefacts were looted and never returned, or religious sites destroyed.
Algeria says the conference should discuss all facets of colonialism from cultural, economic, and environmental to legal dimensions of colonial crimes “with focus on intergenerational trauma, the spoliation and destruction of African cultural heritage, exploitation of natural resources.”
For Africa and the Caribbean, however, demanding reparations may also come as a debate on the role of post-independence leaders in sustaining the exploitation started by colonial masters.
Algeria says a ‘declaration’ at the end of the meeting should provide adequate guidance for the African Union and the Caribbean.
