French President Emmanuel Macron has renewed his commitment to returning African cultural artefacts held in French museums, saying restitution must go hand-in-hand with proper storage in well-prepared institutions on the continent.

At a sideline event of the African Forward Summit in Nairobi, President Macron said African artefacts, especially those of cultural and religious nature, should be returned, but disagreed with those who say everything should be returned, as it could also be part of French heritage.

“There can be no universalism without just restitution if these works, which were looted under the conditions outlined, are not returned, and if specific museums are not properly established on the African continent, though many countries in the Global South have not had such museums,” Macron said.

He gave a historical perspective on how it happened, but disagreed with the notion that the young generation must go to the end of the world to understand it.
France is accused of looting thousands of cultural and religious artefacts from the continent during the colonial days. And activists have been petitioning Paris to return all items to the African people.

France has so far returned a number of artefacts to Africa, including the symbolic sword, El Hadj Omar Tall, to Senegal in 2019, 26 royal treasures from the Kingdom of Dahomey to Benin in 2021, and the sacred Djidji Ayokwe “Talking Drum” of the Ebrie people to Côte d’Ivoire in March 2026. Thousands more remain in France.
“The cultural heritage, which allows us to write history, which allows African youth to learn about their history and their roots, was not held in Africa, and so starting from there, it is clear that something like that could not work, and you cannot tell young people that if you want to understand who you are you must go to the end of the world to understand it,” President Macron said.

“And, besides, all of this cultural heritage is scattered. And so, what I committed to do in Ouagadougou was in fact to say we must begin this process of restitution, because many of these works must be returned to the countries they originated. And where they moreover had a character that was often sacred, religious and far more complex than one subsequently ascribed to them.”

During his 2017 visit to Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, President Macron promised that, within five years, the conditions would be met for temporary or permanent restitution of African cultural heritage to Africa.

He also commissioned a report on the restitution of African cultural heritage, the Sarr-Savoy Report, which recommended the full return of all objects taken by force or presumed to have been acquired through inequitable conditions.

“I do not fully agree with the approach that says we send everything back, as if we had to get rid of a past that was too complicated. The condition is that we continue to stand by countries that are building their museums, developing them and building their network of curators who have their own artists, and this dialogue takes root,” the French leader said.

The largest collection of African art is held in the Musée du quai Branly in Paris, from which the Benin objects were returned.

But, since then, no other returns have followed, although that museum has received official requests from Madagascar, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Mali and Chad.