Johannesburg – French President Francois Hollande says France’s current military operation in Mali is part of the debt owed to Africans for slavery.
Hollande made this statement during the eighth annual commemoration of the abolition of slavery in Paris on Friday.
Nearly 200 years ago millions of strong Africans were taken to Europe and sold as slaves.
They were forced to work in mines, on plantations and as servants.
France is one of the many European countries to have benefited from the practice.
Rights groups are still calling for the reparation of those affected by slavery.
The Representative Council of Black Association is filing a law suit against the French state-owned bank, CDC.
In 1825, France threatened to re-colonise the state of Haiti if it did not compensate for the property lost when it obtained independence in 1804.
Haiti paid the money through the CDC.
The bank allegedly cashed in on an estimated 21 billion US dollars.