The Ghanaian government says France is open to having discussions with a coalition of countries calling for reparations for transatlantic slavery, following a meeting with President Emmanuel Macron.

Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama, accompanied by Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa and other officials, earlier held talks with Macron in Paris regarding the new development.

Mr Ablakwa said on X after the meeting that Mr Macron had indicated France was open to discussions on reparations, including the return of looted artefacts, addressing global economic inequities and dismantling structural racism.

An official ⁠from Élysée Palace on Sunday said both countries discussed France’s efforts to return culturally significant objects and human remains, as well as the legal frameworks around these restitutions.

The official did not mention the additional measures cited by Mr Ablakwa.

The meeting followed the United Nations’ adoption of a Ghana-led resolution recognising slavery as the “gravest crime against humanity” and calling for reparations.

France, along with other European countries, abstained.

France’s representative at the UN said the abstention was due to concerns that the resolution appeared ‌to establish ⁠a hierarchy among crimes against humanity.

Mr Ablakwa said that in spite of that abstention, Mr Macron had said France was willing to have an “open and honest dialogue” on the matter.

In 2001, France recognised transatlantic slavery as a crime against humanity.

However, like most European nations, it has neither formally apologised for its involvement nor committed to reparations.

According to the Slave Voyages database from the 15th to the 19th century, at least 12.5 million Africans were kidnapped and forcibly transported by mostly European ships and sold into ⁠slavery.

France trafficked an estimated 1.3 million people.

In 2025, Mr Macron said he would set up a commission to examine France’s past with ⁠Haiti.

Longstanding calls for reparations have gained momentum worldwide, but so has a backlash, with critics arguing modern states should not be held accountable for historical wrongs. 

(Reuters/NAN)