President John Dramani Mahama has declared that true reparative justice for Africa requires deep structural transformation of the global economy, warning that symbolic apologies are meaningless without an end to unfair trade, discriminatory credit ratings, and predatory debt burdens.
Addressing the United Nations General Assembly in New York, President Mahama emphasized that genuine repair demands dismantling the persistent engines of exploitation that keep developing economies marginalized.
“Real repair demands structural transformation,” President Mahama stated. “It requires dismantling the persistent engines of exploitation: unfair global trade regimes, predatory resource extraction, discriminatory credit ratings, unsustainable debt burdens, and the continued export of raw materials from Africa while real value addition and job creation occur elsewhere.”
Recalling Ghana’s historic role in tabling Resolution A/RES/80/250, which was adopted by 123 nations on March 25, 2026, recognizing transatlantic chattel slavery as the gravest crime against humanity, the President rejected criticisms that pursuing reparations reopens old wounds.
“We came not to provoke division or render empty judgment,” President Mahama asserted. “We came to seek healing. True healing requires truth; truth requires acknowledgement; and acknowledgement must lead to meaningful repair.”
While welcoming recent positive overtures from nations like the Netherlands, Germany, and France to join conversations on restitution, President Mahama insisted that the unpaid labour that built modern Western empires created structural disruptions and generational trauma that persist today. He stressed that fixing global power imbalances, financial inequities, and raw material exploitation remains the only path toward true reparatory justice for Africa and the global diaspora.
