France, April 5 -- Despite opposition from the United States and widespread abstentions, the United Nations last week adopted a resolution recognising the transatlantic trade and enslavement of Africans as the "most serious crimes against humanity".

While some see the vote as a symbolic step towards justice, others question its tangible impact, both in West Africa and across the wider African diaspora.

The resolution singled out transatlantic slavery's duration and brutality - as well as present-day consequences including "the persistence of racial discrimination and neo-colonialism".

It did not mention other slave routes in Africa, including across the Sahara Desert or Indian Ocean.

The text did not explicitly demand reparations, tho...