Ghana leads the global push for slavery reparations
The international conversation about the trans‑Atlantic slave trade has shifted dramatically this year, with a United Nations resolution declaring slavery "the greatest crime against humanity." Yet the United Kingdom still refuses to pay reparations, and most European members abstained from voting.
Against that backdrop, Ghana has positioned itself as the leading voice for reparations. In March the country tabled the UN resolution, and in June it hosted a summit in Accra inviting delegates from about 80 nations. The summit concluded that recompense is overdue and explores avenues of debt relief, debt cancellation and direct compensation.
Ghana’s Foreign Minister, Samuel Okuzeto Ablakwa, described the country’s role as a pan‑African leader that "cannot afford to be silent". He calls for a reparatory justice that goes beyond financial gain and includes educational grants, venture‑capital for young African entrepreneurs and research into long‑standing health issues linked to the enslavement era.
The call for accountability extends to institutions that profited from the trade. The Church of England, for instance, has faced pressure to honour a £100m social‑impact fund and recognise its historic complicity. Archbishop Sarah Mullally paid a symbolic prayer at Cape Coast Castle’s Door of No Return during her visit to Ghana, highlighting the church’s historical role.
In Ghana itself, traditional leaders are taking an active stance. The Ga Mantse, King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, has publicly apologised for his ancestors’ part in the slave trade, recognising the complex legacy of local intermediaries who supplied enslaved people to European traders. He also urges that reparations be financed by those who benefited from slavery rather than merely apologise.
Ghana is also testing a grassroots approach to healing, inviting members of the diaspora, especially African‑Americans, to the continent through a tourism‑driven initiative. While the idea was intended as a "repair" of human trauma, local commentators like Yaw Asare argue that the scheme risks becoming a commercial venture that further marginalises local populations.
The Door of No Return at Cape Coast Castle marks the point at which enslaved people were dramatically taken from West Africa to the Americas. The site remains a powerful reminder of the cruelty of the Middle Passage and symbolizes the Ghanaian commitment to remembrance and reparative justice.
For more on Ghana’s reparations debate see BBC Africa’s Global Eye on Monday at 19:00.
