Browsing: France Africa relations

• France is leading Europe in accepting colonial mistakes and returning human remains taken from Africa.
• Should restitution of African artifacts also include economic compensation?
• Germany is also agreeing to respond to restitution requests by African countries.

France has once again taken steps to reconcile its patchy colonial ties with Africa, this time championing human remains restitution by returning artifacts, human skulls, bones, and other items of historical value.

These human remains are mostly of great African heroes, who opposed colonial rule in the 17^th and 18th centuries. The return of the human remains has been effected by France’s University of Strasbourg. And it is part of an ongoing human remains restitution demanded by several African countries. Most of the latest demands are from Namibia and Tanzania where historic human remains are coming home.

Germany on human remains restitution

In the same vein, Germany is under criticism for failing to …

Even though the EU delegates admitted that; “We recognised, everybody, does, that there is an unbearable vaccination gap that has to be closed … between Africa and Europe,” the diplomats still said no vaccine patent waiver for Africa.

Also, despite scientists warning of the possibility of new Covid variants developing in Africa and the fact that just 5 per cent of Africa has been inoculated, the EU still said no to easing vaccine access to Africa.

The African Union (AU) had expected some sought of EU backing for targeted and time-limited Trips Waiver on vaccines. Trips stand for: Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual-Property Rights and a waiver would have made it affordable for Africa to produce the vaccines in Africa.…

By Emmanuel Macron, Paul Kagame, Cyril Ramaphosa, and Macky Sall

PARIS – The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us that we can no longer treat seemingly faraway crises as distant problems. What happens anywhere can affect people everywhere. That is why addressing the impact and legacy of the pandemic in Africa is so important.

Although Africa has suffered fewer COVID-19 cases and deaths than other areas of the world, the pandemic’s impact on the continent could be more sustained, deep-rooted, and destabilizing for the entire planet. In one year, the pandemic has halted a quarter-century of steady economic growth, disrupted value chains, and caused an unprecedented increase in inequality and poverty.

But it is not only Africa that is at risk of losing its opportunity to emerge fully from COVID-19. The global economy could lose one of its future drivers of growth.

Africa has everything required to overcome the pandemic crisis …