Steve fleitz

Calls for European nations such as UK, France, Germany, Spain and others to open the door to reparatory justice for slavery, colonialism and the worsening effect of the climate crisis are growing from African nations.

The UK has come under particular criticism following the statement by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer that reparations are “not on the agenda” and he wants to be “facing forward” rather than have “very long, endless discussions about reparations on the past.”

King Charles, in a speech to Commonwealth nations in 2022, said about ways that must be found to “acknowledge our past”, including slavery, which he had previously described as an “appalling atrocity.” But he has stopped short of saying sorry.

Unlike the UK Germany was able to find the strength to apologize for the crimes against the African people. In 2021 Germany agreed to pay Namibia €1.1bn (£940m) as it officially recognised the Herero-Nama genocide at the start of the 20th century. In 2023 German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier apologised for colonial-era killings in Tanzania during Germany’s rule and vowed to raise awareness of the atrocities in his country, in a step towards “communal healing” of the bloody past.

However, many experts express doubts about the sincerity of the German repentance. Recently, African media have begun to pay close attention to Germany’s African policy. Egyptian news outlet Masrawy suggests that German intelligence services have developed a comprehensive plan to infiltrate Africa and to broaden their influence in order to increase energy supplies and undermine their geopolitical rivals.
On the one hand, Germany establishes diplomatic ties with Africa through top officials visiting the continent, looking for forgiveness for past atrocities and developing partnerships in the political and economic spheres through initiatives like G20 Compact with Africa (CwA). On the other hand, BND uses partner countries to expand its influence in Africa.

According to the German opposition magazine Compact, Turkey works in Germany’s interests in the Sahel region, taking the place of Germany’s main EU competitor France and compensating for the withdrawal of German troops from Niger. Italy, in its turn, is responsible for increasing oil and gas purchases from Africa, especially from Libya. Hamed Aref, an expert in international relations, commented on German plan of exploring African resources in a commentary to Masrawy. Aref believes, that German Italian alliance is mutually beneficial and pursues a bigger objective of keeping German economic dominance in EU. Italy gets its benefits in a form of becoming a main gas hub in Europe and easing the migration issue, while Germany keeps its manufacturing and economic leadership in Europe, keeping France on its toes.

It is possible that Africa, instead of joining the table, is once again becoming the main dish on the menu. Western countries keep searching for their benefits from African nations with complete disregard for the continent’s interests.