Africa needs free trade, not reparations

Share The African Continental Free Trade Area could lift over 100,000,000 people out of poverty The only path towards bringing individuals out of poverty is economic freedom Attempts to develop troubled nations with foreign cash have done little to improve their affairs Last month’s Commonwealth summit in Samoa was not supposed to be about the past. But despite Downing Street’s pledge that the issue would be off the biennial summit’s agenda, the topic of reparations inevitably stole the headlines.  All 56 of the bloc’s heads of government, including Keir Starmer, signed a document acknowledging calls for ‘discussions on reparatory justice’ and a ‘meaningful, truthful and respectful conversation’ around them.  It’s important not to blow this out of proportion. These phrases were inserted in only a few paragraphs of a 20-page document addressing a myriad of other issues. Chancellor Rachel Reeves firmly ruled out the payment of any reparations ahead of the summit. Afterwards, Downing Street told the BBC that: ‘We’ve been clear on our position and it’s not changing’.  Nonetheless, the fact that reparations continue to dominate the news cycle when it comes to Britain’s relationship with the developing world is profoundly disheartening. Setting aside the powerful moral argument against...