What to know about the historic reparations summit in Accra

Ghana is hosting world leaders, diplomats, and policymakers in Accra for the Next Steps Conference on Reparatory Justice, an international gathering aimed at advancing global commitments on reparations.

The high-level conference, convened under the auspices of President John Dramani Mahama in his capacity as African Union (AU) Champion on Reparatory Justice, seeks to move global consensus on reparations from declarations to actionable frameworks.

It follows the United Nations General Assembly’s adoption of a resolution designating the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved Africans and racialised chattel enslavement as the “gravest crime against humanity”.

Who is attending

Among the high-profile speakers expected are French President Emmanuel Macron, who will deliver a virtual keynote address; Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye; President of São Tomé and Príncipe Carlos Manuel Vila Nova; and Liberian President Joseph Nyuma Boakai.

Others include The Gambia’s President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, African Union Commission Chair Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, and Nobel Laureate Prof Wole Soyinka.

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Also expected are CARICOM Reparations Commission Chair Prof. Hilary Beckles, US Senator Bernie Sanders, members of the US Congressional Black Caucus, civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton, and Marcus Garvey Jr.

In total, more than 80 countries are represented at the summit, alongside 34 ministers of justice and foreign affairs, six international organisations.

The conference will feature a commemorative event at Christiansborg Castle at Osu, a historic site linked to the transatlantic slave trade.

Why it matters

According to Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the conference marks a shift “from recognition to implementation, from declaration to frameworks, from aspirations to concrete action”.

The conference, which runs from June 17 to 19, 2026, is expected to strengthen commitments, build multilateral cooperation, and move reparatory justice from principle into practical global policy actions of scholars, legal experts, and civil society leaders.

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