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Africa has officially joined the global reparations campaign, with the African Union (AU) demanding “meaningful reparations” from former colonial powers. At a summit in Addis Ababa, AU leaders pledged to work alongside Caribbean nations—who have long pressed for trillions in compensation for slavery—to pursue reparatory justice. However, the AU’s demands could go beyond slavery and seek to address colonial exploitation, systemic inequality, climate impacts, and the return of stolen cultural artifacts. While Britain and other European states have so far rejected such calls, the AU is framing 2025 as the “Year of Reparations” to build momentum. Although the Caribbean’s decade-long campaign has seen limited success so far, this new united front aims to increase pressure, arguing that true liberation and healing require acknowledging and rectifying these profound historic wrongs.
The Telegraph