Island Nation of Sao Tome and Principe to Ask Portugal for Colonial Reparations

Sao Tome joins African nations in seeking compensation from former colonizers

May 05, 2024

Sao Tome said Wednesday it would demand compensation from Portugal for damage caused by colonialism.

Speaking to Portugal’s Lusa news agency, minister Isabel Abreu said the Sao Tome and Principe government would draw up a plan to negotiate reparations with Portugal, adding the process would take time.

Abreu said the issue was set to be discussed at a cabinet meeting on Thursday.

It comes after Portugal’s President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said that his country was responsible for crimes committed during the transatlantic slave trade and the colonial era, and suggested there was a need for reparations.

Portugal’s colonial legacy in Africa, including Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, and Mozambique, was marked by violence, dispossession, and cultural destruction. Now, Sao Tome plans to seek compensation for the damage caused by colonialism.

This move reflects a broader trend of African nations asserting themselves against their former colonizers.

In 2021, Germany agreed to pay Namibia 1.1 billion euros for the genocide it perpetrated there.

Similarly, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), there are calls for reparations from Belgium for colonial atrocities.

This growing boldness signals a shifting dynamic in post-colonial relations, as African countries demand acknowledgment and restitution for the injustices of the past.