Seeks dissolution of boundaries to promote regional trade

The African Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC-Africa) has thrown its weight behind the push for payment of repatriation to Sub-Sahara Africa for the enslavement of blacks during the slave trade era.

In a statement to mark the 2025 edition of Africa Day, which has ‘Justice for Africans and People of African Descent through Reparations,’ as a theme, ITIC-Africa said the commemoration is a celebration of Africa’s race, being, essence and struggles.

The General Secretary of ITUC-Africa, Joel Odigie, observed that the Day is a moment to reflect deeply on Africa’s journey toward unity, dignity, sovereignty, sustainable development and social justice. He explained that this year’s theme was timely and profoundly urgent.

His words: “It speaks directly to the ongoing struggle to redress the enduring impacts of colonialism, the trans-Atlantic slave trade, apartheid, and systemic exploitation. These historical crimes were not merely acts of violence against individuals – they were assaults against entire peoples, economies, and civilisations.”

He insisted that for African workers, the call for reparative justice resonates deeply.

Odigie maintained that the African labour movement has always stood at the forefront of the fight for dignity, equity, and economic justice.

“We are resolute and committed to the struggle for justice because we see, know and feel the consequences of historical injustice that are still with us – in underdeveloped labour markets, weakened institutions, exploitative trade arrangements, modern slavery, neo-colonial relations and economies structured around extraction rather than empowerment,” he said.

According to the ITUC-Africa scribe, reparations must not be reduced to mere symbolic gestures or abstract debates, adding that they must encompass concrete commitments to transform the structures that continue to disadvantage African people and their descendants across the globe.

He further argued that this necessitates access to fair wages, quality education, universal social protection, decent work opportunities, and control over Africa’s resources.

It also requires that international trade and financial systems cease undermining the sovereignty of African nations and instead become engines of shared prosperity.

Odigie observed that dissolving artificial boundaries and transforming the entire continent into a common market through regional cooperation and integration are key areas for Africa’s future development.

On this year’s Africa Day, ITUC-Africa said it joined the African Union to call for concrete and transformative action to address structural inequalities and advance justice, dignity, and development for all African people and their descendants worldwide.

The calls include reparative economic justice: Through fair trade regimes, living wages, debt cancellation, and universal social protections.