Maria Lucas has called for structural change to correct historical injustices

Africa must reclaim everything that was taken by Western colonial powers - not only stolen cultural artifacts, but also its dignity, independence, and economic agency, Mozambican Foreign Minister Maria Manuela Lucas said on Tuesday.

Speaking after talks in Moscow with her Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, she argued that historical injustices must be addressed through structural reform, not just symbolic acts from Western powers. 

Lucas stressed that Africa's return to sovereignty must go beyond the repatriation of museum pieces and focus on transforming how the continent takes part in the global economy. This includes ending dependency on raw materials exports and investing in domestic value-added production, she added.

"Everything that was brought away from Africa must be returned to the continent," Lucas said. "I'm not only speaking about tangible artifacts, [but also] about the policy that would result in our economic independence... We would like to feel as Africans, to work as Africans, to be Africans." 

Her remarks follow Mozambique's request in May for the return of around 800 cultural objects held in European museums - including traditional masks, statues, and ritual archives removed by the colonial authorities. The minister of education and culture, Samaria Tovela, said the restitution of these items is crucial to restoring cultural identity.

Mozambique gained independence from Portugal in 1975, after a decade-long liberation struggle led by the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique. Like many post-colonial African nations, it has called for reparations and the return of cultural property removed during the colonial era.

In June, the Netherlands returned 119 artifacts to Nigeria, including human and animal figures, plaques, royal regalia, and a historic bell. They were looted from the West African country more than a century ago.

READ MORE: EU state returns 2,000-year-old sarcophagus to Egypt

The African Union has declared 2025 the year of reparations.