The museum was conceived with the goal of highlighting "Africa's contribution to the world's cultural and scientific patrimony."

"[1] The museum was on the list of "ultramodern museums" compiled by Felwine Sarr and Bénédicte Savoy in their report on the restitution of African cultural heritage Rapport sur la restitution du patrimoine culturel africain.

Vers une nouvelle éthique relationnelle (en: The Restitution of African Cultural Heritage: Toward a New Relational Ethics) submitted in November 2018 to the president of France.

[2] Opened on 6 December 2018, it is the realisation of the vision of Léopold Sédar Senghor, Senegal's first President, to create a museum that would represent the histories and contemporary cultures of Black people everywhere.

[5] The Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac in Paris, for example, holds 70,000 objects from Sub-Saharan Africa.