By RFIPubliée on 18-07-2019Modified on 18-07-2019 at 18:10
The Ministers of Culture of the ECOWAS countries met on Wednesday 17 and Thursday 18 July in Cotonou, Benin to refine the action plan to repatriate African cultural property held abroad. This action plan will be submitted in December at the next summit. Joint action that should not, however, hinder the bilateral efforts undertaken by some ECOWAS countries. Benin for example has obtained the return by France of 26 works of art looted by the colonial army at the bag of palaces of kings in Abomey at the end of the 19th century.
Since December 2018 and the ECOWAS Summit of Heads of State, the restitution of cultural property has become a community subject . ECOWAS wants to speak with one voice and to have a concerted approach. The ministers of culture of West African countries laid the foundations of this common policy in Cotonou with the ambition of sharing experience and also information.
Ministers also recommend that the common policy should not hinder bilateral efforts by some countries, but harmonize with them. For the time being, several governments have started working on lists of goods to be returned. Benin with royal objects held at the musée du quai Branly , but also Senegal and Burkina Faso.
Some 90,000 African plays, the French side estimates, sleep in national museums. Paris has launched a detailed inventory and other countries such as Germany and Belgium are reflecting on it. ECOWAS 'action plan will be officially adopted at the next summit in December in Abuja.
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