President John Dramani Mahama has called on multilateral development banks, international financial institutions, global foundations and private sector partners to invest in Africa’s cultural infrastructure.

He said greater investment was needed to strengthen the continent’s ability to preserve, research and showcase its cultural heritage, particularly as efforts intensify to secure the restitution of African artefacts held abroad.

Speaking at a High-Level Side Event on the Next Steps on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York, President Mahama said cultural heritage should be treated as an important component of Africa’s development.

“Today, I make a direct call to multilateral development banks, international financial institutions, global foundations, and private sector partners: Invest deliberately in Africa’s cultural infrastructure,” he siad.

He urged development partners to channel financing into regional archives, conservation laboratories and digitisation initiatives, as well as professional training for a new generation of African curators and historians.

According to President Mahama, investment in cultural infrastructure would help African countries effectively receive, preserve and manage artefacts and other heritage materials returned to the continent.

His call forms part of Ghana’s broader reparatory justice agenda, which seeks to move beyond acknowledgement of historical injustices towards practical measures, including the restitution of African cultural property.