France and Germany to research provenance of African objects in national museums

Three-year €2.1m fund will prioritise former colonies of the two countries and could lead to return of items

Germany and France will jointly spend €2.1m (£1.8m) to further research the provenance of African heritage objects in their national museums’ collections, which could prepare the ground for their eventual return.

A three-year fund, with contributions of €360,000 euros a year by each country and launched in Berlin on Friday, has been designated to fund research on objects from anywhere in sub-Saharan Africa, though priority is expected to be given to countries that were colonised by France and Germany, such as Togo and Cameroon.