The African Union, launched its Theme of the Year “Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations” at the 38^th AU Summit in Addis Ababa in February 2025. This is a big shift in narratives and worth exploring to understand its roots and some ways to move forward with the theme beyond it being just a theme for the year.

I happened to participate in a Civil society meeting organised alongside the AU Summit to strategise on how to work together in building a strong voice on reparations from a Pan-African perspective. It was light bulb moments through and through for me but also heartwarming to see Africans coming together and agree that it is time to take our voice back and shape the global narratives that position peoples of Africa as victims and domicile in determining their destinies.

The Radical Roots of Reparations

Reparations in the African context has always emerged not as a plea for compensation, but as a revolutionary framework for dismantling global systems of exploitation. The concept transcends monetary restitution – it demands a fundamental restructuring of global political economy. When the Africanist scholar and activist Dudley Thompson declared “Reparations is not aid,” he was articulating a vision of justice that challenged the very foundations of the modern world order.

Traditional African societies recognized multiple forms of value, power, and justice. This included women’s leadership in resource governance, spiritual practice, and community justice systems. Colonial disruption of these systems wasn’t just economic – it represented an assault on African ways of knowing and being that centred harmony between people and nature.

From Colonialism to “Development”: Unmasking Contemporary Extraction

The colonial project never truly ended – it merely changed form. Today’s “development” paradigm often reproduces colonial power relations through debt, aid conditionality, and resource extraction. When Thomas Sankara declared in 1987 that “debt is a cleverly managed reconquest of Africa,” he exposed how financial instruments perpetuate colonial exploitation. Contemporary Africa loses an estimated $162 billion annually through illicit financial flows, tax evasion, and resource theft – far exceeding incoming “aid.”

African Civil Society’s Revolutionary Vision

African civil society’s approach to reparations has historically been revolutionary rather than reformist. Going back into history, the 1993 Abuja Declaration didn’t simply demand compensation – it called for a complete restructuring of international economic relations. Organisations like the Pan-African Reparations Coalition and the Africa Reparations Movement envisioned reparations as a tool for African renaissance and global transformation.

Africa’s Centrality to Global Capitalism

The narrative of African “underdevelopment” obscures a crucial truth: Africa’s resources and labor have been and remain central to global capitalism. Consider:

Historical Wealth Transfers

• The gold mines of Ghana (then Gold Coast) produced 35% of global gold between 1493-1600
• African slave labour created wealth equivalent to $97 trillion in today’s terms
• Colonial extraction built the industrial infrastructure of Europe and America
• Women’s unpaid labour and traditional knowledge systems sustained colonial economies and continue up to this day.

Contemporary Power

• Africa holds 30% of earth’s remaining minerals, including:
• 90% of platinum group metals crucial for green technology
• 40% of global gold reserves
• 65-70% of global cobalt, essential for digital revolution
• African agricultural knowledge and biodiversity underpin global food security
• African intellectual capital drives innovation in global tech, medicine, and arts
• Traditional ecological knowledge offers crucial solutions for climate crisis

Beyond Victimhood: Africa’s Leverage Points

Africa’s position isn’t one of weakness but of tremendous potential power:

Economic Leverage

• Control over critical minerals for green transition
• Growing consumer market of 1.3 billion people
• Strategic position in global supply chains
• Indigenous knowledge systems for sustainable development

Diplomatic Power

• United African bloc represents significant voting power in international forums
• Growing South-South alliances
• Strategic importance in global climate action
• Leadership in alternative development paradigms

Cultural Power

• African cultural production shapes global popular culture
• Growing recognition of African knowledge systems
• Diaspora networks in positions of global influence
• Traditional wisdom for ecological preservation

Reparations as Future-Making

The reparations movement isn’t about looking backward – it’s about creating new futures. This requires:

Radical Knowledge Production

• Decolonizing knowledge about Africa’s role in global history
• Documenting ongoing wealth transfers
• Developing alternative economic metrics and models
• Centring indigenous knowledge systems

Economic Sovereignty

• Strengthening pan-African financial institutions
• Developing value-addition industries
• Building African-owned digital infrastructure
• Protecting communal resource systems

Political Mobilisation

• Strengthening pan-African unity
• Building global solidarity networks
• Engaging youth movements
• Supporting women’s leadership in resource governance

 Strategic Entry Points

1. Climate Justice

• Leverage Africa’s role in global carbon sinks
• Demand technology transfer and green industrialization
• Link ecological debt to reparations claims
• Center traditional ecological knowledge

2. Digital Revolution

• Control over critical minerals
• African digital innovation
• Data sovereignty
• Indigenous technological solutions

3. Cultural Restitution

• Beyond artifact return to knowledge systems
• Digital rights and intellectual property
• Cultural production and creative industries
• Protection of sacred knowledge and sites

The Time is Now

The AU’s 2025 theme arrives at a moment of global transformation. Climate crisis, technological revolution, and shifting global power dynamics create unprecedented opportunities for advancing the reparations agenda. Success requires moving beyond narrow conceptions of compensation toward a revolutionary vision of global justice.

The struggle for reparations is ultimately a struggle for a new world order – one that recognizes Africa’s centrality to human civilization and future survival. The question isn’t whether the global North can afford to pay reparations, but whether humanity can afford to continue a system that threatens our collective survival. As we advance the reparations agenda in 2025, we must remember: this isn’t just about settling historical accounts – it’s about creating a future where such exploitation becomes impossible. This future must honor African ways of knowing, being, and relating to the natural world. The power to make this change is already in African hands. The task now is to use it.