On January 30, 2012 Al-Azhar, the most famous sunni university in the world, has organized the Cairo conference on "Al-Azhar and Africa: Challenges and Ambitions", in contemporary with the election of the members of the African Union Commission in Addis Ababa.
On that occasion Al-Azhar Grand Sheikh, Ahmed al-Tayyeb, said that what the West had done was an "indelible crime" which requires a historic apology.
Egypt has been in the sphere of influence of the British Empire from the second half of the 19th century until the first half of the 20th century, suffering and continuing to suffer from colonialism in its various forms, as the rest of the African continent.
Colonialism Reparation supports the demand of Al-Azhar Grand Sheikh, Ahmed al-Tayyeb, that West apologizes to Egypt for having colonized Africa and proposes that the apology and reparations request for the colonial period becomes part of the program of the next Egyptian government.