At African Futures Lab, we are driven by a commitment to racial equality and justice. 2023 brought both triumphs and challenges to our journey. As we reflect on the past year, we see how complex global forces shaped our work, from groundbreaking progress at the international level to rising tensions that continue to challenge the cause of justice and reparations.
The year was marked by a historic event—the first African Union summit on reparations in three decades. Leaders from across the continent, including Algeria, South Africa, Ghana, and Kenya, gathered to voice a unified call for reparations. This summit represented not only a collective demand for financial compensation but a broader call for reparations and reform of the global international order that has long marginalized African states.
For African Futures Lab, this moment was a culmination of months of advocacy, with heads of state from across the continent speaking out in favor of a common strategy to address historical wrongs.
Additionally, momentum for reparations reached the international stage. In September 2023, the United Nations General Assembly turned its attention to the legacies of slavery and colonization. UN Secretary-General António Guterres made a powerful address, urging the world to confront its past and take action toward reparations. Leaders from countries such as Ghana and Colombia echoed this, calling attention to the global relevance of reparations and restorative justice.