Africa’s Reparations Case Shifts From Morality to Measurable Evidence
Mary Adofo
The campaign for reparations for Africa is moving beyond moral arguments into an evidence-driven phase, as new research by the Pan-African Progressive Front (PPF) quantifies the economic and human damage caused by slavery, colonialism, and their lasting effects.
According to the PPF, generations of Africans were denied education, healthcare, and economic opportunity, creating intergenerational harm that continues to drive global wealth gaps. Even after the end of enslavement, colonial and post-colonial systems, the Front argues, sustained structural exclusion across the continent.
“We are no longer guessing what we are owed. The task now is to consolidate verifiable evidence to demand what we know is true,” said Sumaila Mohammed, the PPF’s Head of Economics. Following its Accra conference, the Front has sharpened its focus on what it calls the “damages of reparations,” including the “African Premium” — the higher cost Africans pay to borrow money internationally.
PPF research treats reparations as owed restitution, not charity, and aims to establish a credible reference point for Africa’s global claim. Estimates cited by the Front suggest economic harms from slavery and post-enslavement discrimination range between $100 trillion and $131 trillion, with human life losses valued at about $75 trillion. Broader assessments place total damages near $100 trillion.
Venezuela’s Ambassador to Benin, Togo, and Ghana, Jesús Alberto García, also underscored reparations as a matter of global justice, pointing to “intellectual extractivism” as another unaccounted colonial harm.
