Descendants of enslaved Africans say Ghana's slavery apologies ring hollow without reparations

At a three-day 'Next Steps' conference held in Accra in June, participants adopted a 19-point framework following a UN General Assembly resolution — backed by 123 countries — recognising the transatlantic slave trade as among the gravest crimes against humanity. The framework calls for formal apologies, reparations, debt relief, repatriation of cultural artefacts, and educational initiatives. However, descendants of enslaved Africans told Al Jazeera that symbolic apologies without material action are inadequate, with one representative stating: 'A verbal apology is a symbolic way to acknowledge a wrong while doing nothing tangible for repairing the damage.'