Macron declares return of Africa’s looted artefacts ‘unstoppable’ as France moves to ease restitution laws

French President Emmanuel Macron has said the process of returning African artworks looted during the colonial era has become “unstoppable”.

Macron made the remarks on Monday during a two-day economic summit in Nairobi, Kenya, coming days after the French parliament unanimously passed a law that allows the restitution of stolen African cultural artefacts without requiring separate parliamentary approvals for each item.

France is estimated to hold tens of thousands of artworks and cultural objects taken from Africa during its colonial rule. Macron, who in 2017 pledged in Burkina Faso to facilitate the return of such artefacts within five years, said progress on restitution has now reached a point of no reversal.

“I believe we have built something irreversible and unstoppable,” he said, adding that even political opposition in France would not be able to roll back the process.

He defended the move as part of historical responsibility, insisting it was “about repentance”.

While several European countries have begun returning colonial-era artefacts, France has faced legal hurdles requiring individual legislative approvals for each item. Despite increasing restitution demands, only a small number of artefacts have been returned so far.

The new law is expected to significantly speed up the return process, allowing the French government to approve restitutions more efficiently.

In 2025, France returned a talking drum taken from the Ébrié people of Côte d’Ivoire in 1916, marking one of its recent high-profile restitutions. Macron described the development as “the beginning of an exchange.”