The Socialist Movement of Ghana declared its strong opposition to their government's invitation to French president Emmanuel Macron to speak at a conference on reparations. We present Dhoruba bin Wahad's analysis as an introduction to their statement.
"Reparations are not discussed and negotiated; they are a consequence of war imposed on the defeated, not a reward for moral or ethical enlightenment. The African political class and most people here in Africa fail to understand that they don’t need Europe - Europe needs Africa to maintain its position of global supremacy. Let that marinate for a moment. Were there a unified, united Africa, with its own Central Bank, common minerals market with an actionable continent-wide plan of infrastructure, energy, and agricultural development, once this is established (or even in principle ratified by the African Union) then reparations can be demanded, not negotiated. Then an imposition of a reparations surcharge or tariff on all mineral exports from Africa’s Common Minerals Market - in African currencies - will serve a functional reparations protocol. Africans cannot negotiate with Europeans as if they need them, require their input, or even conduct serious unilateral agreements with them - they are not doing anything other than keeping Africa in a condition of servitude, compliance, and at their beck and call. There is no such thing as meaningful bilateral neutrality. The Europeans are the enemies of Africa, not the populace but its permanent political classes and oligarchs. I know you don’t believe this, but we will pay the price for inviting this punk to lecture us and speak as a boss to us. If President John Mahama wanted him to come, he should have made him sit and listen and not say anything other than 'I appreciate the invitation'."
The Ho Collective of the Socialist Movement of Ghana strongly condemns the invitation to the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, to deliver a keynote address at the High-Level Consultative Conference on Reparatory Justice from June 17-19, hosted by the government of Ghana. His presence and address at the summit are deeply problematic, undignified, and an affront to the very cause it claims to advance.
France, the largest colonizer of Africa, which dehumanized Haiti, the first black independent nation, represents a state with a centuries-long history of involvement in the Transatlantic slave trade but has never apologized for its complicity. In March 2026, France abstained from the United Nations resolution on reparatory justice, the same nation that has destabilized the Sahel, exploited its resources and continues to pursue neo-colonial relations with Africa. Macron’s keynote address is not solidarity. It is a calculated bid to rehabilitate France’s image and secure unimpeded access to the continent’s vast wealth.
That abstention cannot be dismissed. It is a statement of ambivalence and a continued resistance to accountability, and it exposes the contradiction at the heart of Macron’s invitation. A state that will not stand for reparatory justice at the United Nations has no credibility as its mouthpiece.
Giving France a platform at this conference is an affront to the millions who endured enslavement, to the generations still living with its consequences, and to those who have spent their lives demanding justice yet to be delivered. This cause does not need the participation of those with no genuine commitment to it. It needs protection from them.
How do we give Macron the voice to speak, when a couple of months ago, France could not vote a yes, how can we overlook this contradiction?
How does the accused, who has shown no remorse, offered no apology, or shown any accountability, become the central voice in this conference? France is complicit and must not be seen as a neutral actor.
As a matter of fact, the sudden interest by Emmanuel Macron does not align with his own rhetoric about the African continent. His remarks about the realities in Africa depict the ignorance and neocolonial vision that positions France as an imperial power. How different a statement are we expecting him to make in this conference?
The removal of the French military troops in the Sahel was a symbolic act of anti-imperialism, an invitation to Emmanuel Macron to speak on Reparatory Justice on African soil implies that either we are tone deaf to this important statement by the governments in the Sahel or simply ignoring its importance.
As we continuously work to demand Reparations, the Francophone West Africa continues to suffer from colonialism, that is, economic colonialism. France continues to strangle the necks of lanky, undeveloped countries by hindering their sovereignty and economic transformation in the quest to improve and maintain its own French economic and political interests. If Emmanuel Macron, as President of France, wants to contribute to Reparatory Justice in Africa, the right thing for him is to start with our brothers and sisters in Francophone West Africa who have suffered for many years under the crisis of the CFA, the neocolonial currency that still renders them as slaves.
Giving Macron, any presence or chance to speak at this programme symbolically turns this project into a European-managed one. This emboldens other colonial powers to insert themselves, dilute, and change the cause that we have struggled for. It also becomes a PR vehicle for France to wash off the blood of slavery, political assassination, looting, and decades of political interference in Africa.
We call for the immediate rescinding of the keynote invitation.
The Ho Collective of the Socialist Movement of Ghana reaffirms its commitment to Reparatory Justice and calls on all African governments, civil society organizations, and working masses of men and women to echo this condemnation!
(Atisu Olivia)
Youth Wing Leader, Ho-Collective
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