Africans cheer call for Macron to return treasures
Belgium royal couple Philippe of Belgium (2nd left) and Mathilde of Belgium (left), French President Emmanuel Macron (centre), and his wife Brigitte Macron (right) visit the restoration workshop of The Ghent Altarpiece (or the "Adoration of the Mystic Lamb") at the Museum of Fine Arts Ghent (MSK) in Ghent during a two-day state visit. PHOTO | EMMANUEL DUNAND | AFP
Africans museum directors on Wednesday welcomed an expert report calling on France to allow the return thousands of African treasures and artworks, a radical policy shift that could put pressure on other former colonial powers.
Calls have been growing in Africa for restitution, but French law strictly forbids the government from ceding state property, even in well-documented cases of pillaging.
