Partly due to this and the proximity of the Great Mosque of Brussels, an inscription regarding the Arab slave trade is the subject of ongoing controversy.

[1] In 1911, a national committee was founded, under the auspices of Leopold's successor, Albert I, in order to oversee the monument's construction, which was partially financed by the Belgian State, by the City of Brussels, as well as through a subscription.

Due to the First World War and Vinçotte's poor health, however, the monument was only finished and unveiled by Albert I and his wife, Queen Elisabeth, in 1921.

Leopold II, 3 June 1906) and on the cornice: Opgericht ter eere der eerste belgische baanbrekers / Monument élevé aux premiers pionniers belges (Established honouring the first Belgian pioneers).

[1] The right side of the monument shows another sculptural group representing a Belgian soldier protecting his officer, entitled Le soldat belge se dévoue pour son chef blessé à mort / De belgische soldaat offert zijn leven voor zijnen ter dode gekwetsten overste (The Belgian soldier devotes himself to his mortally wounded leader).

At the bottom centre, on the edge of the basin, the Congo river is allegorically depicted by a languishing Congolese youth lying in vegetation with a crocodile at his feet.

[6] In 2020, two far-right politicians from Vlaams Belang, Dries Van Langenhove and Bob De Brabandere, once more restored the words Araabschen / arabe, as a reaction on what they described as a "current-day Beeldenstorm and hypocritical cult of apologies".