A high-level session on economic justice has concluded with African delegates calling for former colonial powers to pay reparations for centuries of exploitation that continue to disadvantage working women across the continent.
The discussions, held during a regional forum on Economic Justice and Alternatives to the Global Economic Order, brought together labour activists, economists, and political organisers who linked today’s economic struggles directly to historical crimes that remain unpaid and unacknowledged.
Participants argued that real development in Africa cannot advance without substantial reparations from nations including England, Belgium, France, the United States, and Germany, which enriched themselves through slavery, plundered natural resources, and centuries of cheap African labour.
Get the latest news, updates by joining our WhatsApp channel here: Join on WhatsApp.
They emphasised that these legacies continue to shape wages, working conditions, and life prospects for African women today.
Associate Professor Akua Opokua Britwum of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) highlighted how international financial systems, currency manipulation, and multinational corporate practices reinforce structural inequality.
She explained that global economic arrangements deliberately maintain African nations as suppliers of raw materials and cheap labour, leaving women trapped at the bottom of global value chains.
Prof. Britwum noted that multinational corporations often base wages on assumptions that women have male breadwinners, justifying poverty-level pay even as women increasingly serve as primary or sole earners for their households.
She called for unconditional resource transfers to African nations to fund industrialisation, infrastructure, education, healthcare, and social protection systems essential to improving the lives of working women.
The session concluded with a commitment to coordinated political action across Africa, aiming to strengthen links between labour movements, women’s organisations, and anti-imperialist political formations to place reparations prominently on the international agenda.
