‘Africa’s cultural heritage story must continue with its return’ – Mahama insists

President John Dramani Mahama has urged international financial institutions, development banks, foundations and private-sector organisations to increase investment in Africa’s cultural infrastructure. He argued that the preservation and restoration of cultural heritage should not be treated as a secondary issue to be addressed only after countries have achieved economic development. “Heritage is an engine of development,” President Mahama said during a high-level event on the return and restitution of cultural properties and heritage in New York on Thursday, September 24.

According to him, properly preserved cultural assets can support education, strengthen national identity, attract international tourism and contribute to the creative economy. He called for development financing to be directed towards regional archives, conservation laboratories, digitisation projects and professional training for African curators and historians. President Mahama said such investments would strengthen Africa’s capacity to receive and preserve returned artefacts while creating opportunities for young people and expanding the economic value of the continent’s cultural heritage.

President John Dramani Mahama has declared that the story of Africa’s cultural heritage should not end with the removal of its treasures but continue through their return to the continent. Delivering a keynote address at a high-level side event on cultural restitution during the 81st UN General Assembly in New York, President Mahama said Ghana was seeking to transform international recognition of historical injustices into concrete action. He said Ghana was not approaching the issue simply to assign blame for events of the past but to build partnerships capable of repairing their consequences.

“Ghana does not come to this hall to assign guilt for the past. We come to forge a partnership with the present to repair the future,” he said. President Mahama said the international community must establish mechanisms for the return of cultural property, invest in Africa’s cultural infrastructure and ensure the immediate return of human remains.

He said the ultimate objective was to create a future in which African children could access and learn from the heritage of their ancestors. “The story of Africa’s cultural heritage cannot end with its removal. It must continue with its return,” President Mahama said.