The struggle for reparations and economic justice took center stage at the opening of the Fifth Pan-African Congress anniversary conference, where African scholars and activists examined how Western capitalism continues to exploit the continent.

Addressing the gathering, Professor Akua Opokua Britwum of the University of Cape Coast warned that structural adjustments imposed by global financial institutions entrenched Africa deeper into dependency.

“Of course, economies collapsed. And what did we get? We got structural adjustment in the 80s and the 90s, and it’s still going on, which entrenched Africa deeper into Western capital,” she said.

Prof Britwum linked these economic structures to the continued oppression of African women. “All the work forms, all the contestations around how much of labour costs that cover social reproduction, that capitalism can push away. And when it pushes it away, it pushes it into the domain of patriarchy.”

The Pan-African Progressive Front (PPF), organizers of the two-day international event, highlighted that Africa must demand recognition and compensation for historical injustices.

Plans for the Accra Declaration include calls for loan waivers, the creation of a single African reparations fund, and customs duties on goods from former colonizers.