African and Caribbean countries have called for a formal apology and reparations from countries that benefited from the transatlantic slave trade.

🌐 Here's What Happened

The demands come at the end of a three day conference in Ghana which looked to advance the push for reparatory justice.

It follows a landmark UN resolution earlier in March which recognised transatlantic slavery as the "gravest crime against humanity", urging UN member states to contribute to a reparations fund.

Around 12-15 million African men, women and children were captured and trafficked to the Americas to work as slaves from the 15-19th century.

📌 Key Details

A 19-point reparations plan has been endorsed as part of the "Next Steps" conference in the Ghanaian capital of Accra.

It calls for comprehensive debt relief, the restitution of looted cultural property, and the establishment of a global reparations fund, though no specific amount was stated. It also addresses the disproportionate impact of slavery on African women and girls.

The conference leaders also called on countries formerly involved in the slave trade to offer their "full, formal and unconditional apologies".

Ghana's President John Dramani Mahama told delegates: "History does not ask us to inherit guilt, but it asks us to inherit responsibility".

French President Emmanuel Macron also gave a virtual note at the conference, where he recognised that enslaved people were "dehumanised and treated as goods".

However, he cautioned against reducing reparations for slavery to financial compensation alone, saying they should not be seen as a "cheque written to bring the story to a close".

📰 Source: BBC Africa