Progress
28%Aim
The Great African Museum will be a Pan-African landmark institution housing artefacts, art, manuscripts, and material culture from across the continent, celebrating Africa's heritage, serving as a centre for repatriation of cultural objects held abroad, and strengthening African identity globally.
Progress to date
A temporary site was inaugurated at Boulkine Villa in Algiers, Algeria in June 2023. The AU has begun the formal process of selecting a permanent site and commissioning an architectural vision. Discussions on repatriation have gained momentum, with France and several European institutions entering dialogue with African governments on returning looted objects.
Challenges
The permanent site has not yet been selected, funding for construction at the scale envisioned remains unconfirmed, and legal frameworks governing the repatriation of cultural property from European collections are still evolving slowly.
Next steps
The AU Commission expects to finalise the permanent site selection process and launch an architectural design competition by 2026, with groundbreaking targeted for the late 2020s.