Shame and sadness over trans-Atlantic slave trade – Yellen

On a visit to Senegal, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has spoken of how the United States and Africa are still impacted by the legacy of slavery.

She was speaking on Gorée Island which was the largest slave-trading centre on the African coast between the 15th and 19th Centuries.

She voiced “an overwhelming sense of sadness and pain thinking about those stolen from their families”.

Ms Yellen said tremendous strides had been made in both Africa and the US but people were still living with the brutal consequences of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

On arrival in Senegal on Friday, she said the Biden administration was working with African leaders to mitigate the effects of the war in Ukraine, particularly on food security.