Russia has expressed readiness to support African countries in calculating the total amount of reparations that Western nations could pay for crimes committed during the colonial period.
The position was outlined on Wednesday, March 25, 2026, by Irina Abramova, Director of the Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, during a press conference on the theme “The Responsibility of Western Metropolises for the Consequences of Colonisation: History and Modernity,” according to the African Initiative media agency.
Her remarks come in the wake of growing global momentum for reparatory justice, following the backing of 123 nations for a motion at the United Nations to recognise the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade as the gravest crime ever committed against humanity.
The motion was tabled at the UN General Assembly by John Dramani Mahama.
Madam Abramova explained that Russia intends to collaborate with African experts to build a strong, evidence-based case for reparations using modern analytical tools.
We aim to unite the efforts of Russian scholars – mathematicians, programmers, historians, and economists – with African researchers in order to jointly substantiate the scale of these reparations and move forward with legal claims on various international platforms,” she said.
She stressed that African countries must accurately quantify the damage caused by colonialism to strengthen their claims for compensation, noting that this would involve modern scientific methods alongside extensive colonial-era archives preserved across the continent.
Abramova further clarified that while Russia is offering support, it is not the originator of the reparations agenda, maintaining that African challenges should primarily be addressed by Africans themselves.
She also highlighted the role of John Dramani Mahama, who currently chairs the African Union’s reparations committee, describing him as both a political leader and a scholar advancing the discourse.
In addition to being an outstanding political figure, John Mahama is also a scholar. He actively promotes the reparations agenda, which is increasingly evolving from a historical and political discourse into a concrete, practical agenda,” Abramova added.
Between the 15th and 19th centuries, an estimated 12.5 million Africans were forcibly taken and sold into slavery, largely through transatlantic networks dominated by European traders.
The reparations debate has since gained renewed global attention, with proposals ranging from financial compensation and the return of cultural artefacts to land restitution and formal acknowledgment of historical injustices.
However, the issue remains contentious, with critics arguing that present-day states and institutions should not be held accountable for actions carried out centuries ago.
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