Africa Sees Return of Stolen Artifacts as Boost for Diaspora Tourism

Museums are among the most visited locations around the world, with the world top's 100 art museums attracting 71 million visitors in 2021 — a 31 percent rise from the year before. They're also lucrative as museums contribute annually an estimated $50 billion to the U.S. economy alone.

And African officials believe they would get a tourism boost from the return of objects they argue were stolen from the continent. Although it's not their primary motivation in fighting for their repatriation, African authorities envision those artifacts being tourist attractions at museums. Up to 90 percent of Sub-Saharan Africa’s material cultural legacy, including sound recordings and photographs, is located outside of the continent.  

Uganda, which aims to attract five million visitors annually by 2024, is one destination developing a strategy for showcasing the artifacts it hopes to retrieve. A team from the University of Michigan is working to repatriate obj