Selected Online Reading on Africa

This timely book explores the current state of EU-Africa relations from a multidisciplinary perspective, placing emphasis on recent developments in five areas that are crucial for EU-Africa relations: development cooperation, trade, migration, security and democratization. It considers how Africa's dependence on the EU has decreased due to the declining importance of development cooperation, and increasing cooperation with emerging powers, notably the BRIC nations. The book asks two key questions in relation to these areas: first, whether the EU effectively pursues a forward-looking strategy suggested in the official discourse or is following a strategy that still reflects asymmetrical postcolonial relations; and second, whether Africa will be able to push for a more balanced relationship with Europe by using the leverage provided by emerging powers. To answer these questions, expert contributors explore the impact of African migration on the domestic policy of EU member states, security and conflict resolution in Africa, EU trade policy and African economic development, and how local dynamics and international pressures affect democratisation in Africa. Offering new directions of research on EU-Africa relations, this book will be critical reading for scholars and students of international relations, European policy and international politics. It will also be a useful resource for policy makers, activists and civil society groups interested in EU-Africa cooperation.

This handbook fills a large gap in the current knowledge about the critical role of Africa in the changing global order. By connecting the past, present, and future in a continuum that shows the paradox of existence for over one billion people, the book underlines the centrality of the African continent to global knowledge production, the global economy, global security, and global creativity. Bringing together perspectives from top Africa scholars, it actively dispels myths of the continent as just a passive recipient of external influences, presenting instead an image of an active global agent that astutely projects soft power. Unlike previous handbooks, this book offers an eclectic mix of historical, contemporary, and interdisciplinary approaches that allow for a more holistic view of the many aspects of Africa's relations with the world.

This book brings contemporary Chinese scholarship into Africa, the relations between African states, and the relations between China and Africa into focus. As China becomes the biggest partner for many African states, constructing infrastructure across the continent, Western scrutiny has increased. This book offers a comprehensive look at what Chinese scholars have encountered on the ground, as well as comparative studies of how different nations have engaged with Africa.

This book explores, at a time when several powers have become serious players on the continent, aspects of African agency, past and present, by African writers on foreign policy, representative of geography, language and state size. In the past, African foreign policy has largely been considered within the context of reactions to the international or global "external factor". This groundbreaking book, however, looks at how foreign policy has been crafted and used in response not just to external, but also, mainly, domestic imperatives or (theoretical) signifiers. As such, it narrates individual and changing foreign policy orientations over time--and as far back as independence--with mainly African-based scholars who present their own constructs of what is a useful theoretical narrative regarding foreign policy on the continent--how theory is adapted to local circumstance or substituted for continentally based ontologies. The book therefore contends that the African experience carries valuable import for expanding general understandings of foreign policy in general. This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of Foreign Policy Analysis, Foreign Policy Studies, African International Relations/Politics/Studies, Diplomacy and more broadly to International Relations.

The relationships between Africa and Europe are of high strategic importance. This volume studies the ongoing dynamics between the two continents by adopting a pluralist understanding of international relations which encompasses non-state actors as well as states. Going beyond pure intergovernmentalism, this focus of this book is on activists, business people, religious believers, local politicians as well as transnational networks and by hybrid coalitions. Such plurality of socio-economic and political interactions underpinning the relationship between Africa and Europe is underexamined and yet of great importance. The text identifies new patterns of cooperation and recurrent obstacles in the African-European multistakeholder dynamics, thus opening the way for a more accurate understanding of the future relationship between Africa and Europe. This book brings African and European reflections together, on an equal standing, in order to achieve a true dialogue among civilizations. This book is aimed at all those who are interested in African-European relationships, including students and researchers, as well as activists, business people, civil servant and functionaries at local and national level.

This handbook provides a comprehensive overview of the changing dynamics in the relationship between the African continent and the EU, provided by leading experts in the field. Structured into five parts, the handbook provides an incisive look at the past, present and potential futures of EU-Africa relations. The cutting-edge chapters cover themes like multilateralism, development assistance, institutions, gender equality and science and technology, among others. Thoroughly researched, this book provides original reflections from a diversity of conceptual and theoretical perspectives, from experts in Africa, Europe and beyond. The handbook thus offers rich and comprehensive analyses of contemporary global politics as manifested in Africa and Europe. The Routledge Handbook of EU-Africa Relations will be an essential reference for scholars, students, researchers, policy makers and practitioners interested and working in a range of fields within the (sub)disciplines of African and EU studies, European politics and international studies. The Routledge Handbook of EU-Africa Relations is part of the mini-series Europe in the World Handbooks examining EU-regional relations and established by Professor Wei Shen.

This is the first book to analyse the full cycle of rise and fall of Brazil's foreign policy towards Africa in the beginning of the 21st century. During his government, former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2003-2010) made the drive towards Africa one of the cornerstones of Brazilian diplomacy and cooperation. In a bid to build strategic trading partnerships with African counterparts, Lula's government committed itself to an ambitious program centred on provisions in loans and credits as well as the exponential growth of its South-South cooperation. After Lula, however, this drive towards Africa started to decline and finally collapsed in face of political meltdown in Brazil and the proliferation of controversial judicial investigations that directly involved political leaders at the centre of most initiatives undertook in the 2000s. The rise and fall of Brazil-Africa relations has provoked much discussion in policy-making, as well as scholarly research. This book seeks to provide valuable resources to the study of this process by presenting empirically based and updated analysis from different perspectives, such as: The diplomatic tradition of Brazil-Africa relations The role played by Brazilian big private companies in Africa Brazilian health cooperation with African countries The participation of civil society in Brazil-Africa relations Brazil-Africa trade relations Military cooperation between Brazil and Africa Brazil's drive to Africa left a durable mark, whose implications are yet to be understood. What were its main successes and failures? And what does the dramatic change of events, with Brazil moving from a pivotal player to an almost invisible one in merely half a decade, tell us about South-South cooperation? These are some of the questions that Brazil-Africa Relations in the 21st Century - From Surge to Downturn and Beyond intends to answer in order to provide a useful resource for Political Science and International Relations scholars interested in the study of South-South relations, as well as for policy makers interested in understanding the changing dynamics of International Relations in the wake of the 21st century.

This book offers a range of perspectives on the Africa-China partnership in the context of the Forum on China and Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). Incorporating historical, political, social and cultural dimensions, it offers innovative views on the Africa-China relationship that combine theory and practice, and critically examines the prospects of a Pan-African policy towards China, complementary to China's comprehensive African policy. The chapters address a number of key questions, including: What steps are being taken to achieve a more coordinated approach and policy towards China on the African continent? Does Africa even need a collective strategy in the first place? How would a coherent policy framework affect Africa's relations with Europe and other external partners? How do the pillars of the partnership align with the African Union's Agenda 2063 and the United Nation's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development?

This open access textbook offers a critical introduction to human and economic development prospects in Africa revolving around three questions: where is Africa today, what explains the current state, and, given historical trends and what we know about the world, where do we think the continent will be in 2040? And, a final question: what can we do to create a better tomorrow? It models ambitious progress in health, demographics, agriculture, education, industrialization, technological leapfrogging, increased trade, greater stability, better governance and external support. The book reviews the future of work/jobs, poverty and the impact of climate change. A combined Closing the Gap scenario presents a forecast of what could be possible by 2040. Each chapter suggests which policies might accelerate prospects for each sector. Written in an accessible style, and supported by a range of pedagogical features, this textbook introduces undergraduate and graduate students to the contemporary human and economic development prospects in Africa.

This book examines the role of the African Union in relation to African agency in international politics. It examines the manner and extent to which the African Union exercises two forms of agency—shirking and slippage—in its strategic and collaborative partnerships. The author focuses on four major AU partnerships with the European Union, NATO, the United Nations and US AFRICOM. The books examines African agency in each partnership by exploring the politics and dynamics of each partnership in different aspects: the multilevel engagement, institutionalization, resource contribution and disbursement, as well as preference linkage. It specifically does that by examining African ownership and leadership in all of these aspects. The book highlights the role of agency slack as a survival strategy to escape from the AU’s subaltern position in international politics. It designates the partnership with the European Union as emblematic of African agency; while the others exhibit different forms of agency slack. Partnerships with NATO and the United Nations exhibit shirking, while that with the US AFRICOM exhibits slippage.

This book explores the emergence of African Union (AU) law as a legal order and its implications for existing order in the region. As an authoritative text on the development of AU law, the book covers such pertinent issues as legislative powers, competences, direct effect in AU law, subsidiarity, interventionism, and enforcement of laws. Olufemi Amao argues that there is a gradual movement from intergovernmentalism to supranationalism in the African Union legal order, and explores how this trajectory gradually and incrementally de-emphasises the discourse on nation state sovereignty; a concept that has caused many problems in the African context. Drawing upon EU law as a comparison, the book also examines how the development of supranationalism affects crucial issues such as human rights, democratic reforms, territorial matters, tribal and religious disputes, and economic relations. As a comprehensive examination of the development of law within a union, this book will be of great interest and use to students, scholars and practitioners in international law, international relations, and African studies.

This edited volume addresses the accomplishments, prospects and challenges of regional integration processes on the African continent. Since regional integration is a process that ebbs and flows according to a wide range of variables such as changing political and economic conditions, implications and factors derived from the vagaries of migration and climate change, it is crucial to be cognizant with how these variables impact regional integration initiatives. The contributors discuss the debates on Pan-Africanism and linking it with ongoing discourses and policies on regional integration in Africa. Other aspects of the book contain some of the most important topic issues such as migration, border management and the sustainable development goals. This content offers readers fresh and innovative perspectives on various aspects of sustainable development and regional growth in Africa.

This book explores innovative and context-driven political and legal policy measures designed to expand the powers of the African Union (AU) in order to meaningfully drive the continental integration process. In this regard, the book addresses issues of context, political will, and innovative and inclusive approaches as essential elements that must be considered.  Africa is currently experiencing one of the most critical phases of its integrative development. Since 2015, there have been increasing efforts to develop policies and practices that grant the AU broader powers to coordinate and create binding rules regarding the regional integration process. In other words, these processes seek to endow the AU with supranational powers like those exercised by the European Union, which, despite its internal problems, remains the most successful experiment in supranationalism in the world. This has included the decision to finance the AU through a 0.2% tax on eligible imports into member states; the decision to reduce the number of AU Commission portfolios from eight to six; the adoption and entry into force of the much touted Agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area; the adoption of the Protocol to the Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community Relating to Free Movement of Persons, Right to Residence and Right of Establishment; and the adoption of the AU Agenda 2063 policy framework in 2015. How these processes will change the direction of regional integration in Africa, the book argues, largely depends on the existence of quality-driven institutions.

This volume offers systematic research on regionalism in Africa and explores the role and impact of external partners on the dynamics, institutional design, and performance of regional integration projects. It acknowledges and elaborates the multilevel and multidimensional nature of regionalism, with its variety of cooperative institutions and policy areas, while closely considering uneven relationships to external actors in African regional organizations. The book's two comprehensive mapping studies examine patterns of asymmetric inter-dependence between regionalism in Africa and external partners in Europe, with a focus on trade and donor funding, and highlight structural imbalances and (un)intended consequences. Five additional case studies provide in-depth analyses of a variety of African regional organizations, mainly with a focus on security regionalism, and elaborate how external partners influence and affect integration processes and projects. Although regionalism in Africa benefitted from external relations and partnerships with Europe, contributions in this volume question this positive impression, highlighting some of the major undermining factors and actors.

Africa lies at the centre of the international community's peacebuilding interventions, and the continent's rich multitude of actors, ideas, relationships, practices, experiences, locations, and contexts in turn shape the possibilities and practices of contemporary peacebuilding. This timely new handbook surveys and analyses peacebuilding as it operates in this specifically African context. The book begins by outlining the evolution and the various ideologies, conceptualizations, institutions, and practices of African peacebuilding. It identifies critical differences in how African peacebuilders have conceptualized and operationalized peacebuilding. The book then considers how different actors sustain, construct and use African infrastructure to identify and analyse converging, differing or competing mandates, approaches, and interests. Finally, it analyses specific thematic issues such as gender, justice, development, democracy, and the politics of knowledge, before ending with in-depth analyses of case studies drawn from across the continent. Bringing together an international line up of expert contributors, this book will be an essential read for students and scholars of African politics, post-conflict reconstruction, security and peace and conflict studies.

This handbook takes stock of the African Union's Vision 2020 to rid the African continent of wars, civil conflicts, human rights violations, and humanitarian disasters - including violent conflicts and genocide - and provides recommendations on how to address contemporary threats to peace and security in Africa. It explores the continent's current peace and security landscape, including new actors, emerging threats, and the prospects for achieving sustainable peace. With contributions from highly respected experts in the field, both academics and practitioners, the volume unpacks the sources of conflict, instability and the challenges of peace and development, and provides research-based policy advice to guide and inform African governments, policy makers, practitioners, and scholarly audiences on the continent and beyond.

In a globalized world with transregional challenges, relations to other regions constitute a key feature of the EU´s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). Whereas the web of region-to-region cooperation has grown considerably, interregional cooperation in the field of peace and security is particularly relevant in the context of Africa-EU relations. Since 2003, the EU has substantially supported African regionalism and the partners have conducted interventions jointly. Recently, the EU has emphasized its commitment to Africa in the Global Strategy with explicit reference to African partners such as the African Union (AU) or the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). However, these efforts have not been systematically evaluated to date. Acknowledging the need for an evaluation and focusing specifically on interregional peace operations, this book provides the first comprehensive analysis on the effectiveness of the interregional African-EU Partnership on Peace and Security and the African Peace Facility (APF) as major funding hub for the partnership As distinctive feature, it evaluates and explains the effectiveness of interregional security cooperation across and within three cases: (1) the AU-EU response to the crisis in the Central African Republic in 2013, (2) the ECOWAS-EU efforts in Mali in 2012, (3) and the AU-EU engagement in Somalia (2007-2017). The book makes a valuable contribution to EU foreign policy studies, comparative regionalism and interregionalism, and peace and conflict research in terms of empirics, theory, and methodology.

This book concerns the United Nations' peacemaking, peacekeeping, peace-building, and post-conflict reconstruction efforts in Africa from 1960 to 2021. Succinctly discussed are historic and contemporary peace, security, and economic engagements within 18 countries spanning eight African regions: the Great Lakes; the Economic Community of Central African States; East Africa; the Horn of Africa; North Africa; the Sahel Region; West Africa; and Southern Africa. The book develops a neo-realist and imperialist critique that discusses how resource-rich, conflict-ridden states have become easy targets for capitalists, terrorists, and transnational crime, aligned to geostrategic parochial interests. Critically argued is that endogenous economic growth factors, if applied effectively, can achieve both peace and security, and meet the Global Sustainable Development Goals. Such efforts require constructive engagement with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council: China, France, Russia, the UK, and the US. However, the book contends that the cornerstone of multilateral engagement involves Africa's 55 states and the African Union's three major pillars: the Peace and Security Council, the African Governance Architecture, and the Post-Conflict Reconstruction Development Centre, which have the ability to move resource-rich, conflict-ridden states out of transnational crime and poverty.   This book offers wide-ranging analyses of contemporary African diplomacy and a compelling critique of UN peacekeeping efforts in Africa, which resonates to scholars  of international relations, peace and conflict studies, and African politics.

This book critically interrogates the neoliberal peacebuilding and statebuilding model, instead proposing a popular progressive model centred around the lived realities of African societies. The neoliberal interventionist model assumed prominence and universal hegemony following the demise of state socialism at the end of the Cold War. However, this book argues that it is a primarily short-term, top-down approach that imposes Western norms and values on conflict and post-conflict societies. By contrast, the popular progressive model espoused by this book is based on stringent examination and analysis of the reality of the socio-economic development, structures, institutions, politics and cultures of developing societies. In doing so, it combines bottom-up and top-down, popular and elite, and long-term evolutionary processes of societal construction as a requisite for enduring peacebuilding and statebuilding. By comparing and contrasting the dominant neoliberal peacebuilding and statebuilding model with a popular progressive model, the book seeks to empower locals (both elites and masses) to sit in the driver's seat and construct their own societies. As such, it is an important contribution to scholars, activists, policymakers, civil society organisations, NGOs and all those who are concerned with peace, stability and development across Africa and other developing countries.

The rule of law is indispensable for sustained peace, good governance, and economic growth, especially in countries recovering from civil war. Yet despite its importance, we know surprisingly little about how to restore the rule of law in the wake of conflict. In this book, Robert A. Blair proposes a new theory to explain how the international community can help establish the rule of law in the world's weakest and most war-torn states, focusing on the crucial but often underappreciated role of the United Nations. Blair tests the theory by drawing on original household surveys in Liberia, highly disaggregated data on UN personnel and activities across Africa, and hundreds of interviews with UN officials, local leaders, citizens, and government and civil society representatives. The book demonstrates that UN intervention can have a deeper, more lasting, and more positive effect on the rule of law than skeptics typically believe.

This open access book on the state of peacebuilding in Africa brings together the work of distinguished scholars, practitioners, and decision makers to reflect on key experiences and lessons learned in peacebuilding in Africa over the past half century. The core themes addressed by the contributors include conflict prevention, mediation, and management; post-conflict reconstruction, justice and Disarmament Demobilization and Reintegration; the role of women, religion, humanitarianism, grassroots organizations, and early warning systems; and the impact of global, regional, and continental bodies. The book's thematic chapters are complemented by six country/region case studies: The Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sudan/South Sudan, Mozambique and the Sahel/Mali. Each chapter concludes with a set of key lessons learned that could be used to inform the building of a more sustainable peace in Africa. The State of Peacebuilding in Africa was born out of the activities of the Southern Voices Network for Peacebuilding (SVNP), a Carnegie-funded, continent-wide network of  African organizations that works with the Wilson Center to bring African knowledge and perspectives to U.S., African, and international policy on peacebuilding in Africa. The research for this book was made possible by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York.

This book offers a new look at the oil industry in West Africa, proposing to examine the entire region that has been viewed through the lens of Nigeria, Ghana and Gabon. The author argues that, in order to address peace and stability in the region, it is important to understand the transformative powers of petroleum revenue. The project also includes the author's analysis of the problem on multiple levels: international oil companies, states, and local communities. Also, it takes a deeper look at the effects and importance of local communities in the above countries and discusses adequately the strategic challenges that petro-capitalism poses for West Africa's regional stability and human security. 

This book discusses trade relations and facilitation issues at both the regional and the continental African level, highlighting the increasing business opportunities and challenges that confront Africa in the digital age. It also examines the effects of trade policies and other policy instruments on Africa's economic development and presents workable policy measures for a more business-friendly ecosystem. Discussing various topics, including trade relations between African countries, African and international trade agreements, and trade liberalization policies, the book appeals to scholars of economics, business and management as well as professionals and policymakers interested in fostering free trade and sustainable business development in Africa.

This book shows how a constructivist account of bargaining sheds new light on the emergence of impasse situations in international negotiations. It brings to the forefront misperceptions and sticky beliefs that complicate trade talks between the Global South and the Global North. In doing so, it places trade cooperation in the context of uncertainty and uncovers how contested normative and causal beliefs lead to a mismatch of perspectives in world politics. Empirically, the book examines the recent negotiations of Economic Partnership Agreements between the European Union (EU) and West Africa (2002-2014). In doing so, it enriches the study of negotiations of development-oriented trade agreements in the context of a major North-South partnership. By exploring a constructivist perspective on game theory, the author uncovers how the repeated impasse situations followed from the different "games" both sides expected to be playing. The author shows that such misperceptions endured because they reflected deep-seated normative disagreements not only over the effects of neo-liberal trade reforms, but also over how to structure EU-Africa post-colonial trade relations in the 21st century. Comparing and contrasting both sides' divergent perspectives helps us to see how trade negotiations are never just about economic interests, but also about the (re)negotiation of the values and ideas that structure state interaction. The book draws on a large set of qualitative primary data on EU-West Africa trade negotiations. Negotiating trade in uncertain worlds will be of great interest to students and scholars of International Relations, International Political Economy, International Trade, International Negotiations, EU External Relations, EU-Africa cooperation, Economic Diplomacy, International Relations of the Developing World, and North-South cooperation. 

The book examines various aspects of Africa's external economy by focusing on regional monetary arrangements and how they are affected by devaluation episodes. It investigates the relationship between current account balances, trade balances and trade openness with respect to regional integration and regional growth patterns, discusses obstacles to a successful regional integration and paths to structural transformation, and studies the impact of economic partnership on inclusive development. The book addresses researchers and policymakers interested in development economies and African economic development.

The textbook provides an in-depth overview of African history and politics from the Atlantic slave trade, through the phases of colonialism and decolonization, to the development problems of the present. Various development theories are used to explain successful and failed development paths of individual countries after 1960. Thematic foci include Europe's colonial legacy, state formation and state failure, democratization, the curse of raw materials, population growth, hunger and poverty, ethnic conflicts, and the roles of the World Bank, EU, and China as external actors in Africa.

There is an emerging consensus that what is projected as democratic governance and justice in Africa requires a re-calibration, in particular, in relation to the constitutive demos, human rights, the realisation of commitments at various governance levels and the convergence between these ideations. The post-colonial narrative on democracy has unveiled some crevices in rule of law, political equality, political participation, political culture and freedom of the press. Aside from the fact that these notions are threatened by some existing institutional structures, these notions are increasingly being negotiated across political spaces. Evident in the prevalent narrative is an imperative for Africa to assert its place on the global scene of democratic governance and justice. However, if this will be accomplished, it is important to understand some of the issues that need to be worked through in this transition.

This book analyzes several components of democratization and party competition in West Africa focusing on Senegal - a country with one of the longest histories of multiparty elections. It does so in service of examining the origins and consequences of the proliferation of political parties, a trend that has taken hold in Senegal and a variety of other African countries. The author uses novel sources of data to illuminate the economic and political roots of party functions and trajectories by placing party formation, opposition, ruling party loyalty, and presidential turnover into local and regional contexts. This work will appeal to African Studies scholars, professors, graduate students, and policy makers.

This book explores why democratization processes in Sub-Saharan Africa have made so little progress despite more than two decades of multi-party politics on the subcontinent. By applying multiple linear regression analyses to a new data set on multi-party elections in Sub-Saharan Africa, the study investigates the relationship between political mobilizations and electoral competitiveness. It finds that the more societal groups engage in political mobilizations, such as protests and strikes, the more competitive elections become. Based on these results, the author argues for a change in the policies of international democracy assistance programs. The study's findings suggest that efforts to promote democracy would likely be more successful if international donors focused their support on organizations that have active constituencies and are willing to use their mobilization capacity to address ruling elites with political or socio-economic grievances.

This insightful book critically explores the political, constitutional, legal, and economic challenges of effectively combating the laundering of the proceeds of crime by politically exposed persons (PEPs) in Africa. Professor John Hatchard draws on numerous recent examples from Africa and beyond, arguing that a three-pronged approach is required to address the issues surrounding money laundering by PEPs; there must be action at the national, transnational, and corporate levels. Taking a forward-thinking perspective, he reviews the strategies which would make this approach effective and offers suggestions for their further enhancement. Professor Hatchard also provides an in-depth analysis of the different money laundering techniques used in African countries and suggests how constitutions, financial intelligence units, asset recovery mechanisms, and the African Court of Justice and Human and Peoples' Rights can be utilised to tackle the problem. The book concludes that while challenges remain, there is cause for optimism that money laundering by African PEPs can be addressed successfully. This book will be of interest to academics and students of law, particularly those focusing on financial law, corruption, and economic crime. Containing a wealth of practical case studies, it will also be beneficial for legal practitioners, policymakers, public officials, and civil society organisations.

Do political leaders matter for development in Africa? Political leaders south of the Sahara have taken centre stage since countries in the region gained independence in the 1960s, yet a 'leadership trap' soon emerged with power-holders overstaying in office and chronic instability caused by coups resulting in decades of disappointing developmental performances. The beginnings of change are found in political reforms of the early 1990s, with many sub-Saharan countries introducing multiparty elections and an increasingly regular succession of leaders. But what impact did the new mechanisms for selecting leaders have on the political stabilization of African states, on the growth of their economies, and on the welfare of ordinary citizens? Drawing on a new dataset called the Africa Leadership Change (ALC), this innovative analysis of political leadership in Africa investigates the distinct leadership dynamics of development processes across the region from 1960 to 2018, revealing how, as Africa began to change its leaders and the way they reach power, these new leaders themselves began to change Africa.

This book takes stock of the debate surrounding the institution of presidential term limits in Africa, against the backdrop of global trends toward authoritarianism and the rise of strong men. Widely adopted three decades ago, term limits for the office of the president are now being challenged by many African leaders. The power alternation debate in Africa raises important questions concerning the future of democracy and development on the continent. Using a case study approach, this book explores in detail six situations in which leaders have either succeeded or failed in altering term limits. It thoroughly dissects the arguments, tactics and strategies on both sides of the issue, and draws key lessons for strengthening constitutionalism in Africa.

This Handbook provides an authoritative and foundational disciplinary overview of African Public Policy and a comprehensive examination of the practicalities of policy analysis, policymaking processes, implementation, and administration in Africa today. The book assembles a multidisciplinary team of distinguished and upcoming Africanist scholars, practitioners, researchers and policy experts working inside and outside Africa to analyse the historical and emerging policy issues in 21st-century Africa. While mostly attentive to comparative public policy in Africa, this book attempts to address some of the following pertinent questions: How can public policy be understood and taught in Africa? How does policymaking occur in unstable political contexts, or in states under pressure? Has the democratisation of governing systems improved policy processes in Africa? How have recent transformations, such as technological proliferation in Africa, impacted public policy processes? What are the underlying challenges and potential policy paths for Africa going forward? The contributions examine an interplay of prevailing institutional, political, structural challenges and opportunities for policy effectiveness to discern striking commonalities and trajectories across different African states. This is a valuable resource for practitioners, politicians, researchers, university students, and academics interested in studying and understanding how African countries are governed.

This book examines the impact of financing on Africa's economic development. By exploring various financial instruments including the role of alternative sources of funding like migrant remittances and illicit flows, it analyses the role of financing for Africa's macroeconomic development and other development indicators such as infrastructure, transport, global trade, industrialisation, social services, external indebtedness and governance. By presenting and examining case studies on various African countries and regions, the respective contributions investigate the capacity of institutions to facilitate and structure the economy's funding activities, and to strengthen the ties between finance and development. Furthermore, they discuss various regional aspects, such as the integration of infrastructure, harmonization of fiscal policy, integration of financial markets, and the facilitation of intra-regional trade and movement of capital. Given its scope, the book will appeal to scholars of economics and development studies with an interest in the economic development of Africa. 

Development in Modern Africa: Past and Present Perspectives contributes to our understanding of Africa's experiences with the development process. It does so by adopting a historical and contemporary analysis of this experience. The book is set within the context of critiques on development in Africa that have yielded two general categories of analysis: skepticism and pessimism. While not overlooking the shortcomings of development, the themes in the book express an optimistic view of Africa's development experiences, highlighting elements that can be tapped into to enhance the condition of African populations and their states. By using case studies from precolonial, colonial, and postcolonial Africa, contributors to the volume demonstrate that human instincts to improve material, social and spiritual words are universal. They are not limited to the Western world, which the term and process of development are typically associated with. Before and after contact with the West, Africans have actively created institutions and values that they have actively employed to improve individual and community lives. This innovative spirit has motivated Africans to integrate or experiment with new values and structures, challenges, and solutions to human welfare that resulted from contact with colonialism and the postcolonial global community. The book will be of interest to academics in the fields of history, African studies, and regional studies.

This book uncovers the many ways in which innovations and innovation system development policies have become crucial to development policy formation across Africa. As new instruments, actors and tools emerge in development cooperation, the role of innovation in the societal development of developing countries needs to be addressed fully. This book delves into subjects as diverse as the changing development policies between the Global North and South, the role of innovation in international aid and development policies, the role of public, private and non-governmental sectors, universities and other development actors, and the potential for inclusive innovation in local communities. In particular, the book asks who benefits from innovation-focussed development policies, and if and how practical innovation instruments include the global poor. Written in an accessible and engaging style, the book includes a range of discussion questions and further reading suggestions to suit a range of readers, from students right through to policy makers and practitioners, or anyone else looking for an introduction to innovation policies and development in Africa.

This open access book analyses the development problems of sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) from the eyes of a Korean diplomat with knowledge of the economic growth Korea has experienced in recent decades. The author argues that Africa's development challenges are not due to a lack of resources but a lack of management, presenting an alternative to the traditional view that Africa's problems are caused by a lack of leadership. In exploring an approach based on mind-set and nation-building, rather than unity - which tends to promote individual or party interests rather than the broader country or national interests - the author suggests new solutions for SSA's economic growth, inspired by Korea's successful economic growth model much of which is focused on industrialisation.    This book will be of interest to researchers, policymakers, NGOs and governmental bodies in economics, development and politics studying Africa's economic development, and Korea's economic growth model.

The book draws upon the expertise and international research collaborations forged by the Worldwide Universities Network Global Africa Group to critically engage with the intersection, in theory and practice, of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Africa's development agendas and needs. Further, it argues that - and demonstrates how - the SDGs should be understood as an aspirational blueprint for development with multiple meanings that are situated in dynamic and contested terrains.   As the SDGs have substantial implications for development policy and resourcing at both the macro and micro levels, their relevance is not only context-specific but should also be assessed in terms of the aspirations and needs of ordinary citizens across the continent. Drawing on analyses and evidence from both the natural and social sciences, the book demonstrates that progress towards the SDGs must meet demands for improving human well-being under diverse and challenging socio-economic, political and environmental conditions. Examples include those from the mining industry, public health, employment and the media. In closing, it highlights how international collaboration in the form of research networks can enhance the production of critical knowledge on and engagement with the SDGs in Africa.

The Idea of Development in Africa challenges prevailing international development discourses about the continent, by tracing the history of ideas, practices, and 'problems' of development used in Africa. In doing so, it offers an innovative approach to examining the history and culture of development through the lens of the development episteme, which has been foundational to the 'idea of Africa' in western discourses since the early 1800s. The study weaves together an historical narrative of how the idea of development emerged with an account of the policies and practices of development in colonial and postcolonial Africa. The book highlights four enduring themes in African development, including their present-day ramifications: domesticity, education, health, and industrialization. Offering a balance between historical overview and analysis of past and present case studies, Elisabeth McMahon and Corrie Decker demonstrate that Africans have always co-opted, challenged, and reformed the idea of development, even as the western-centric development episteme presumes a one-way flow of ideas and funding from the West to Africa.

'This is a desperately needed book. It not only surveys the field of African economic history at the level of undergraduate students, but provides several fresh perspectives, drawing on insights from the latest research on the evolution of African societies and their economic prosperity. This valuable source of teaching material will be the premier text on African economic history for at least the next decade.' --Johan Fourie, Stellenbosch University, South Africa This upper level textbook offers a historical understanding of sub-Saharan Africa. By looking at the economic history of the African region from before the arrival of European territorial control all the way through to Africa's integration in the current era of globalisation, readers can understand the development paths for African countries today. Organisation of production, social structures, trade, and governance are key factors in the discussion about African success stories and failures. Suitable reading for upper level undergraduates, MSc and postgraduate students, in addition to policy makers and development practitioners looking for a comprehensive overview of Africa from an economic and social perspective. Hillbom and Green also provide a starting point for the study of African economic history for those who would like to continue their own research in this area.

This volume describes African cities in transition, and the economic, socio-political, and environmental challenges resulting from rapid post-colonial urbanization. As the African continent continues to transition from urban configurations inherited from colonial influences and history, it faces issues such as urban slum expansion, increased demands for energy and clean water, lack of adequate public transportation, high levels of inequality among different socio-economic population strata, and inadequate urban governance, planning, and policies. African cities in transition need to reconsider current policies and developmental trajectories to facilitate and sustain economic growth and Africa's strategic repositioning in the world. Written by an international team of scholars and practitioners, this volume uses case studies to focus on key issues and developmental challenges in selected African cities. Topics include but are not limited to, smart cities, changing notions of democracy, the city's role in attaining the SDGs, local governance, alternative models for governance and management, corruption, urbanisation and future cities.

Sub-Saharan Africa faces many development challenges, such as its size and diversity, rapid urban population growth, history of colonial exploitation, fragile states and conflicts over land and natural resources. This collection, contributed from different academic disciplines and professions, seeks to support the UN Habitat New Urban Agenda passed at Habitat III in Quito, Ecuador, in 2016. It will attract readers from urban specialisms in law, geography and other social sciences, and from professionals and policy-makers concerned with land use planning, surveying and governance. Among the topics addressed by the book are challenges to governance institutions: how international development is delivered, building land management capacity, funding for urban infrastructure, land-based finance, ineffective planning regulation, and the role of alternatives to courts in resolving boundary and other land disputes. Issues of rights and land titling are explored from perspectives of human rights law (the right to development, and women's rights of access to land), and land tenure regularization. Particular challenges of housing, planning and informality are addressed through contributions on international real estate investment, community participation in urban settlement upgrading, housing delivery as a partly failing project to remedy apartheid's legacy, and complex interactions between political power, money and land. Infrastructure challenges are approached in studies of food security and food systems, urban resilience against natural and man-made disasters, and informal public transport.

As Africa urbanises and the focus of poverty shifts to urban centres, there is an imperative to address poverty in African cities. This is particularly the case in smaller cities, which are often the most rapidly urbanising, but the least able to cope with this growth. This book argues that an examination of the food system and food security provides a valuable lens to interrogate urban poverty. Chapters examine the linkages between poverty, urban food systems and local governance with a focus on case studies from three smaller or secondary cities in Africa: Kisumu (Kenya), Kitwe (Zambia) and Epworth (Zimbabwe). The book makes a wider contribution to debates on urban studies and urban governance in Africa through analysis of the causes and consequences of the paucity of urban-scale data for decision makers, and by presenting potential methodological innovations to address this paucity. As the global development agenda is increasingly focusing on urban issues, most notably the urban goal of the new Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda, the work is timely. The Open Access version of this book, available at: http://www.tandfebooks.com/doi/view/10.4324/9781315191195, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

This book draws attention to emerging issues around the rights of minorities, marginalized groups, and persons in Africa. It explores the gaps between human rights provisions and conditions, showing that although international human rights principles have been embraced in the continent, various minority groups and marginalized persons are denied such rights through criminalization and persecution.　 African countries have a good record of signing and ratifying international and regional rights instruments but the political will and capacity for enforcing these with respect to minorities remain weak. International contributors to the book provide new perspectives on the rights of marginalized and minority groups in different parts of Africa and the extent to which they are deprived or denied entitlement to the universality and equality articulated in law. The authors show that human rights, while having come of age as a moral ideal, has not been fully entrenched in practice towards groups such as children, indigenous populations, the mentally ill, persons with disabilities, and persons with albinism.　 This volume is geared toward scholars, students, human rights groups, policy makers, social workers, international organizations, and policy makers in the fields of criminology, security studies, development studies, political science, sociology, children studies, social psychology, international relations, postcolonial studies, and African Studies.　 ice towards groups such as children, indigenous populations, the mentally ill, persons with disabilities, and persons with albinism.　 This volume is geared toward scholars, students, human rights groups, policy makers, social workers, international organizations, and policy makers in the fields of criminology, security studies, development studies, political science, sociology, children studies, social psychology, international relations, postcolonial studies, and African Studies.　

This edited volume examines the development and challenges of governance, democracy, and human rights in Africa. It analyzes the emerging challenges for strengthening good governance in the region and explores issues related to civil, political, economic, cultural, and social rights highlighting group rights including women, girls, and other minority groups. The project presents a useful study of the democratization processes and normative developments in Africa exploring challenges in the form of corruption, conflict, political violence, and their subsequent impact on populations. The contributors appraise the implementation gap between law and practice and the need for institutional reform to build strong and robust mechanisms at the domestic, regional, and international levels. 

This book adds significantly to the discourse surrounding the progress made in empowering women in Africa over the last decade, providing strong research evidence on diverse and timely gender issues in varied African countries. Topics covered include climate change and environmental degradation, agriculture and land rights, access to - and quality of - education, maternal and reproductive health, unpaid care and women's labor market participation, financial inclusion and women's political participation. Cross cutting issues such as migration, masculinities and social norms are also addressed in this volume, which is aimed at policy makers, academics, and indeed anyone else interested in the UN Sustainable Development Goal of the empowerment of women and girls.

Failed attempts in Africa to develop, democratise and instil virtues of a just state and society which promote benevolent leadership and advance political and economic rights and freedoms call for a 'new' imagination. By exploring a wide range of issues concerning justice, human rights and leadership, this book makes two major contributions to the extant literature in each of these areas. Firstly, as a project in decoloniality, it constitutes an 'epistemic break' from mainstream logics and approaches to understanding state, society and development in Africa, presenting an approach that is filtered through a Euro-American lens that reifies the hegemony of a particular spatio-temporality.  In other words, it emphasises the importance of situatedness by thinking from rather than about or with Africa. And secondly, it addresses a fundamental shortcoming in decolonial thought, which is often criticised for rejecting western paradigms of thought without providing viable alternatives. The issues covered include state failure in Africa, the geopolitics of US and NATO military interventions on the continent, individual states' responses to international law, indigenous moral political leadership, authentic inclusion of marginalised voices in development practice, an endogenous approach to environmental ethics, and a spiritualist reflection on the need for Africa to chart her own course to political, social and economic redemption. By searching for alternative paths to justice, human rights and leadership, this book represents an effort to actualise the core vision of the African Renaissance to find 'African solutions for African problems'.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, the rapidly evolving COVID-19, increasing population growth, and exponential expansion in demand for agricultural commodities are putting pressure on available resources, thereby posing immense challenges to the region's capacity to achieve nutritional security related to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Although Sub-Saharan Africa boasts vast, fertile and uncultivated arable lands, its capacity to contribute to feeding its current and future population is being seriously undermined by factors such as poor adoption and utilization of innovations and digital tools, climate change impact, environmental degradation, weak political will, limited interest in farming, lack of government support, and more. In spite of these constraints, sustainable agriculture, food security and nutrition security in Sub-Saharan Africa can be achieved by adopting a multi-pronged approach, which includes improved agricultural mechanization, adoption of high yielding crop varieties, use of information technology, public investments in improved technologies, and rural infrastructure funding.  This edited volume provides innovative policy tools for enhancing Sub-Saharan Africa's capacity to achieve sustainable agriculture, food security and nutrition security in the digital age and in the face of climate variability. Furthermore, this book presents smart strategies for increased agricultural production, reduced food waste, and enhanced nutritional outcomes by harnessing the latest discoveries in agricultural research, education and advisory services.

"It is my expectation that respect for the critical importance of seed sovereignty will in due course be recognised by member states of the United Nations to be as critical to global peace and security as the UN Charter demands in respect of State sovereign equality, justice, human rights and economic and social wellbeing for all peoples." --Denis J. Halliday, UN Assistant Secretary-General 1994-98   "A constructive contribution to our understanding of what is going wrong and what can go right in the complex area of seed sovereignty." --Dervla Murphy, renowned travel writer and adventurer "Keeping seed diversity alive is the secret ingredient, not just for the good, nutrient-dense food that every cook, gardener and farmer/producer needs, but for strengthening our resilience in the face of multiple environmental threats. This compelling and timely book helps us to understand what we are up against and how we can overcome it." -- Darina Allen, internationally renowned cook, founder of Ballymaloe Cookery school and President of the East Cork Convivium of Slow Food This book studies the relationship between globalisation and seed sovereignty in Sub-Saharan Africa. It provides comparative case studies of the most recent Kenyan and Ethiopian seed laws, as well as a study of seed sovereignty 'on the ground' in a locality within Ethiopia. Based on extensive fieldwork, it identifies the interests and motivations of transnational seed corporations, global philanthropic organisations, state actors, and local farmers. It finds significant differences in the wording of seed laws and the exercise of seed sovereignty, applying theories of globalisation to help us better understand these varied outcomes. It shows that seed sovereignty has the potential to be shared between local, national, regional, and global authorities, but in different ways in different countries and localities. In the face of what might sometimes appear to be unstoppable global forces, these findings suggest that the exercise of seed sovereignty can be transformed even in a highly globalised world.

An improved knowledge of Africa's complex farming systems, set in their socio-economic and environmental context, is an essential ingredient to developing effective strategies for improving food and nutrition security. This book systematically and comprehensively describes the characteristics, trends, drivers of change and strategic priorities for each of Africa's fifteen farming systems and their main subsystems. It shows how a farming systems perspective can be used to identify pathways to household food security and poverty reduction, and how strategic interventions may need to differ from one farming system to another. In the analysis, emphasis is placed on understanding farming systems drivers of change, trends and strategic priorities for science and policy. Illustrated with full-colour maps and photographs throughout, the volume provides a comprehensive and insightful analysis of Africa's farming systems and pathways for the future to improve food and nutrition security. The book is an essential follow-up to the seminal work Farming Systems and Poverty by Dixon and colleagues for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the World Bank, published in 2001.

This book discusses migration and space-spanning social network relationships as normal realities of life in African societies. It offers an overview of the research landscape and introduces an agency-centered theoretical model that provides a conceptual framework for translocality. The authors Malte Steinbrink and Hannah Niedenführ plead for a translocal approach to social transformation, showing how the translocality of livelihoods is shaping the lives of half a billion people on the continent and impacting local conditions. Using an action-oriented approach, the book analyzes the effects of translocal livelihoods on diverse aspects of economic, environmental and social change in rural Sub-Saharan Africa. The study thus makes an innovative contribution not only to migration research and development studies but also to the discussion around the policy and practice of development cooperation and planning. It is time to rethink development in light of translocal realities. The book appeals to scholars and researchers in geography, sociology, policy-making and planning, development studies, migration research and rural development.

This open access book discusses current thinking and presents the main issues and challenges associated with climate change in Africa. It introduces evidences from studies and projects which show how climate change adaptation is being - and may continue to be successfully implemented in African countries. Thanks to its scope and wide range of themes surrounding climate change, the ambition is that this book will be a lead publication on the topic, which may be regularly updated and hence capture further works. Climate change is a major global challenge. However, some geographical regions are more severly affected than others. One of these regions is the African continent. Due to a combination of unfavourable socio-economic and meteorological conditions, African countries are particularly vulnerable to climate change and its impacts. The recently released IPCC special report "Global Warming of 1.5º C" outlines the fact that keeping global warming by the level of 1.5º C is possible, but also suggested that an increase by 2º C could lead to crises with crops (agriculture fed by rain could drop by 50% in some African countries by 2020) and livestock production, could damage water supplies and pose an additonal threat to coastal areas. The 5th Assessment Report produced by IPCC predicts that wheat may disappear from Africa by 2080, and that maize-- a staple--will fall significantly in southern Africa. Also, arid and semi-arid lands are likely to increase by up to 8%, with severe ramifications for livelihoods, poverty eradication and meeting the SDGs. Pursuing appropriate adaptation strategies is thus vital, in order to address the current and future challenges posed by a changing climate. It is against this background that the "African Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation" is being published. It contains papers prepared by scholars, representatives from social movements, practitioners and members of governmental agencies, undertaking research and/or executing climate change projects in Africa, and working with communities across the African continent. Encompassing over 100 contribtions from across Africa, it is the most comprehensive publication on climate change adaptation in Africa ever produced.     

The aim of this 2-volume book is to highlight how Sustainability Science approaches can help solve some of the pervasive challenges that Africa faces. The volumes collect a number of local case studies throughout Africa that adopt transdisciplinary and problem-oriented research approaches using methodologies from the natural and the social sciences. These are put into perspective with chapters that introduce key sustainability challenges such using a regional focus. Through this multi-scale and inter/transdisciplinary approach the proposed volume will provide an authoritative source that will pack in a single volume a large amount of information on how Sustainability Science approaches sustainability challenges in African contexts. While there have been general books about sustainability science, none has had a strong African focus. As a result the 2-volume set fills a major gap in the Sustainability Science scholarship. This volume sets the stage for the series. Part I introduces key sustainability challenges in Africa. Parts II‐III highlights specific case studies related to these challenges from West and Central Africa.

This book discusses knowledge-based sustainable agro-ecological and natural resource management systems and best practices for sustained agricultural productivity and ecosystem resilience for better livelihoods under a changing climate. With a focus on agriculture in Africa, the book assesses innovative technologies for use on smallholder farms, and addresses some of the key Sustainable Development Goals to guide innovative responses and enhanced adaptation methods for coping with climate change. Contributions are based on 'Capacity Building for Managing Climate Change in Malawi' (CABMACC), a five-year program with an overall goal to improve livelihoods and food security through innovative responses and enhanced capacity of adaptation to climate change. Readers will discover more about sustainable crop production, climate smart agriculture, on-farm energy supply from biogas and the potential of soil carbon sequestration in crop-livestock systems.     

This book presents a comprehensive overview of climate variability and change in Africa, and includes impact assessments and case studies from integration frameworks, with a particular focus on climate, agriculture and water resources. Richly illustrated, the book highlights case studies from western, eastern and southern African region, and explores related development policies. Climate change adaptation research, prediction, and reanalysis are also addressed