Evaluating the Complex Dynamics of Reparation Demands at the African Union Summit

At the latest African Union (AU) summit in Ethiopia, African leaders are once again reviving their absurd demands for slavery and colonial reparations, despite clear resistance from former colonial powers. This tired, baseless narrative of victimhood has long outlived its relevance, and it's time to dismantle it entirely.

If reparations are truly the issue, should the Khoisan demand compensation from the Xhosa? Should countless African tribes seek restitution from the Zulu, who massacred over a million Africans and seized vast territories in their bloody conquests? The hypocrisy is staggering.

The push for reparations is nothing more than a desperate attempt by corrupt leaders to distract from their own catastrophic failures. While some radical activists in the West fuel this race-baiting nonsense, rational leaders in the U.S. and Europe continue to reject these baseless claims.

At the AU summit in Addis Ababa, leaders are attempting to craft a "unified approach" to demand financial compensation, official acknowledgments, and policy changes. In reality, this is nothing more than a scheme to extort money from nations that long ago severed colonial ties.

Let’s be clear: Africa’s economic struggles, debt crises, and failing infrastructure are not the result of colonialism. Colonial rule ended decades ago, leaving behind infrastructure, functioning institutions, roads, railways, education systems, and economic frameworks. What has happened since? Utter mismanagement, unchecked corruption, and complete disregard for governance.

Reparations are an absurd demand when African elites themselves played an active role in the transatlantic slave trade. African tribes sold their own people into slavery for profit—if reparations were logical, those tribes should be the first to pay.

The AU’s alignment with CARICOM to push reparations through legal and diplomatic means is destined for failure, particularly in an era where the West is increasingly rejecting these revisionist narratives. With a political shift toward reality-driven policies in countries like the U.S., the era of pandering to race-based handouts is coming to an end.

European leaders have rightly rejected these demands. Portugal, Britain, and France owe Africa nothing. The responsibility for Africa’s decline rests squarely on the shoulders of its leaders—leaders who have plundered their own nations, rigged elections, and perpetuated cycles of poverty through theft, incompetence, and lawlessness.

Enough of the victimhood theatrics. Instead of blaming former colonial powers, Africa’s leaders should take a long, hard look in the mirror. The real problem isn’t colonialism—it’s their own inability to govern.