Global Voices on Reparations Gather in Accra | President of São Tomé and Príncipe, H.E. Carlos Manuel Vila Nova and Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka, have been confirmed as keynote speakers for Ghana’s high-profile Next Steps Conference on Reparatory Justice, adding further international weight to the country’s campaign for justice over the transatlantic slave trade.
The three-day conference, scheduled for June 17-19 in Accra, is being convened by President John Dramani Mahama in his capacity as the African Union Champion on Advancing the Cause of Justice and Payment of Reparations. The event aims to transform a landmark United Nations resolution into concrete international action.
Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, announced the participation of the two distinguished figures on social media, describing Soyinka’s attendance as a significant moment for the continent’s growing reparations movement.
“With exceptional anticipation, Ghana looks forward to welcoming the legendary Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka as a guest speaker at the Next Steps conference on Reparatory Justice being hosted by President John Mahama in Accra this week,” the minister said.
He also described it as an honour to welcome President Carlos Manuel Vila Nova of São Tomé and Príncipe as one of the conference’s confirmed keynote speakers.
From Symbolic Recognition to Concrete Action
The Accra gathering comes after the adoption of the landmark United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/RES/80/250, which formally recognised the trafficking and enslavement of Africans as one of the gravest crimes against humanity. The resolution, backed by 123 UN member states, has reinvigorated global discussions on reparatory justice.
According to organisers, the conference will focus on translating that diplomatic breakthrough into a common framework of actionable commitments that can advance reparatory justice, historical accountability and equitable development.
Ghana at the Centre of a Global Conversation
Under President Mahama’s leadership, Ghana has increasingly positioned itself as a leading advocate for reparations, arguing that the transatlantic slave trade deprived African societies of millions of people whose labour, innovation and enterprise could have contributed significantly to the continent’s development.
The government believes that the legacy of slavery continues to shape global inequalities and that structured international dialogue is necessary to address its enduring social and economic consequences.
The conference is expected to bring together heads of state, policymakers, legal experts, academics, civil society organisations and members of the African diaspora to develop a unified strategy for advancing the reparations agenda.
The programme will culminate on June 19, internationally observed as Juneteenth, with commemorative activities aimed at strengthening the historical and cultural ties between Africa and its diaspora.
Global Voices on Reparations Gather in Accra | AviationGhana
