Stolen artworks during colonization: Frances restitution movement is irreversible and unstoppable, according to Emmanuel Macron

The French president signed into law a framework facilitating the return of looted works during colonization just before the Africa-France summit in Nairobi, a demand voiced for years in Africa.

The movement for France to return looted works during colonization, especially in Africa, is “irreversible” after being enshrined in law, French President Emmanuel Macron assured on Monday, May 11, promising it will survive even if his successor wants to “retreat.”

“I believe we have built something irreversible and unstoppable,” Emmanuel Macron declared on the first day of the Africa-France summit in Nairobi, Kenya. “Even if someone came to power in France wanting to reverse restitutions, I believe they would not succeed (…) even all the people blowing ill winds and wanting to retreat,” he added, a year before the end of his presidency. To the latter, he exclaimed: “Too late! Don’t get carried away, too late!” He criticized those who initially resisted this law by calling it “repentance.”

Emmanuel Macron signed into law on Saturday, just before this summit, a French framework law facilitating the return of looted works during colonization, a demand voiced for years in Africa and adopted unanimously by the French Parliament. This was a promise he made at the start of his presidency in 2017 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

Nine years later, restitutions can be counted on one hand: in 2020, 26 treasures from Abomey were returned to Benin and El Hadj Omar’s saber to Senegal, then at the beginning of 2026 a “talking drum” confiscated in Ivory Coast since 1916, the “Djidji Ayokwe.” The law should facilitate additional returns.

“This is the beginning of an exchange (…) Many more restitutions will continue based on this framework law,” Emmanuel Macron emphasized. And while he leaves doubt about what he will do once he leaves power in a year, he promised to continue this “fight” alongside Africans, in “different guises” and with “different attire.”