Abstract
Africa in the twenty-first century is what may be termed a “mixed bag”. While the continent continues to face many challenges, including underdevelopment, lack of accountability and good governance, as well as access to basic amenities and security challenges, much progress has also been made in the last two decades which means that the continent is a very different place from what it was at the beginning of the century. This chapter provides a particular selection of issues with which scholars from across Africa are grappling as we approach the third decade of the twenty-first century. It sets the historical foundation for the rest of the chapters covering the continent as a whole, as well as perspectives from West, East and Southern Africa.
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Notes
- 1.
Henry K. Prempeh, “Africa’s ‘Constitutional Revival’: Fake Start or New Dawn?” International Journal of Constitutional Law 5, no. 3 (2007): 469–473; see, also, Michael Addaney and Michael G. Nyarko, “Governance and Human Rights in Twenty-First Century Africa: An Introductory Appraisal,” in Ghana @ 60: Governance and Human Rights in Twenty-First Century Africa, ed. Michael Addaney and Michael G. Nyarko (Pretoria: Pretoria University Law Press, 2017), 2; Lucian W. Pye, Aspects of Political Development: An Analytical Study (Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Company, 1966), 71; El-Obaid A. El-Obaid and Kwadwo Appiagyei-Attua, “Human Rights in Africa: A New Perspective on Linking the Past to the Present,” McGill Law Journal 41 (1996): 819; and Walter Rodney, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa (Washington, DC: Howard University Press, 1974).
- 2.
S.K.B. Asante, “Nation Building and Human Rights in Emergent African Nations,” Cornell International Law Journal 2, no. 1 (1969): 72.
- 3.
Ibid.
- 4.
Ibid.
- 5.
Prempeh, “Africa’s Constitutional Revival,” 469; see also Addaney and Nyarko, Ghana @ 60.
- 6.
See, generally, Max Gluckman, “Natural Justice in Africa,” Natural Law Forum 81 (1964).
- 7.
Ibid.
- 8.
Asante, “Nation Building,” 73.
- 9.
Ibid., 73–74.
- 10.
See, generally, Morris Kiwinda Mbondenyi, International Human Rights and Their Enforcement in Africa (Nairobi: LawAfrica Publishing, 2010), 89–90; Morris Kiwinda Mbondenyi and Tom Ojienda “Introduction to and Overview of Constitutionalism and Democratic Governance in Africa,” in Constitutionalism and Democratic Governance in Africa: Contemporary Perspectives from Sub-Saharan Africa, ed. Morris Kiwinda Mbondenyi and Tom Ojienda (Pretoria: Pretoria University Law Press, 2013), 4.
- 11.
Prempeh, “Africa’s Constitutional Revival,” 469; Addaney and Nyarko, Ghana @ 60, 3.
- 12.
Frans Viljoen, International Human Rights Law in Africa (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), 156; El-Obaid and Appiegyei-Attua, “Human Rights in Africa,” 826–827; see, also, Keba M’Baye and B. Ndiaye, “The Organisation of African Unity,” in The International Dimensions of Human Rights, ed. Karel Vasak (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1982), 583.
- 13.
Viljoen, Human Rights Law in Africa, 157.
- 14.
Ibid., 156.
- 15.
Ibid., 158.
- 16.
Mbonyeni and Ojienda, “Constitutionalism and Democratic Governance in Africa,” 4; see, also, Oji Umozurike, The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Zuidpoolsingel: Brill/Noijhoff, 1997), 23; Bahane T. Nyanduga, “Conference Paper: Perspectives on the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Occasion of the 20th Anniversary of the Entry into Force of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights,” African Human Rights Law Journal 6, no. 2 (2006): 255.
- 17.
Makau Mutua, Human Rights: A Political and Cultural Critique (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002), 74–82.
- 18.
Gino Naldi, The Organisation of African Unity: An Analysis of Its Role (London: Mansell, 1989) 108–109; Uji Umozurike, Five Years of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ile-Ife: Obafemi Awolowo University, 1992). On the postcolonial history of Africa, see also, Martin Meredith, The State of Africa: A History of the Continent Since Independence (London: Jonathan Ball Publisher, 2005); Guy Arnold, Africa: A Modern History (London: Atlantic Books, 2005); and Richard J. Reid, A History of Modern Africa: 1800 to the Present (Oxford: Wiley, 2012).
- 19.
Viljoen, Human Rights Law in Africa, 160; see also Keba M’Baye, Les droits de l’homme en Afrique (Paris: Pedone, 1992), 153.
- 20.
Viljoen, Human Rights Law in Africa, 161.
- 21.
Samuel Huntington, The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1991); Gabrielle Lynch and Gordon Crawford, “Democratization in Africa 1990–2010: An Assessment,” Democratization 18, no. 2 (2011): 275.
- 22.
Prempeh, “Africa’s Constitutional Revival,” 469.
- 23.
Viljoen, Human Rights Law in Africa, 161.
- 24.
Ibid., 162.
- 25.
Ibid., 392; Michael G. Nyarko and Henrietta M. Ekefre, “Recent Advances in Children’s Rights in the African Human Rights System: A Review of the Decision of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child in the Talibé’s Case,” Law and Practice of International Courts and Tribunals 15 (2016): 385.
- 26.
Article 2(h); Viljoen, Human Rights Law in Africa, 165.
- 27.
Viljoen, Human Rights Law in Africa, 165.
- 28.
Article 4(h); Viljoen, Human Rights Law in Africa, 165.
- 29.
Viljoen, Human Rights Law in Africa, 165.
- 30.
The African Union Commission, “Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want, a Shared Strategic Framework for Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development,” in First Ten-Year Implementation Plan 2014–2023 (2015a), 33.
- 31.
Ibid.
- 32.
Ibid.
- 33.
Ibid.
- 34.
Ibid., 12.
- 35.
Ibid.
- 36.
African Union Commission, Agenda 2063: The Critical Factors for Success (Addis Ababa: African Union, 2015b), accessed August 26, 2018, http://agenda2063.au.int/en/sites/default/files/05%20Critical%20Factors%20For%20Success_pdf.
- 37.
Sahra El Fassi and Faten Aggad, Implementing African Development Initiatives: Opportunities and Challenges to Securing Alternative Financing for the Agenda 2063 (Maastricht: European Centre for Development Policy Management, 2014), 8.
- 38.
Michael Addaney, “The African Union’s Agenda 2063: Education and Its Realization,” in Education Law, Strategic Policy and Sustainable Development in Africa, ed. Onuora-Oguno Azubike, Egbewole Wahab, and Thomas E. Kleven (Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018), 182.
References
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Addaney, Michael, and Michael Gyan Nyarko. “Governance and Human Rights in Twenty-First Century Africa: An Introductory Appraisal.” In Ghana @ 60: Governance and Human Rights in Twenty-First Century Africa, edited by Michael Addaney and Michael Gyan Nyarko, 2. Pretoria: Pretoria University Law Press, 2017.
African Union Commission. “Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want, a Shared Strategic Framework for Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development.” In First Ten-Year Implementation Plan 2014–2023. Addis Ababa: African Union, 2015a.
———. Agenda 2063: The Critical Factors for Success. Addis Ababa: African Union, 2015b.
Arnold, Guy. Africa: A Modern History. London: Atlantic Books, 2005.
Asante, S.K.B. “Nation Building and Human Rights in Emergent African Nations.” Cornell International Law Journal 2, no. 1 (1969): 72.
El Fassi, Sahra, and Faten Aggad. Implementing African Development Initiatives: Opportunities and Challenges to Securing Alternative Financing for the Agenda 2063. Maastricht: European Centre for Development Policy Management, 2014.
El-Obaid, El-Obaid A., and Kwadwo Appiagyei-Attua. “Human Rights in Africa: A New Perspective on Linking the Past to the Present.” McGill Law Journal 41 (1996): 819.
Gluckman, Max. “Natural Justice in Africa.” Natural Law Forum 81 (1964).
Huntington, Samuel. The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1991.
Lynch, Gabrielle, and Gordon Crawford. “Democratization in Africa 1990–2010: An Assessment.” Democratization 18, no. 2 (2011): 275.
M’Baye, Keba. Les droits de l’homme en Afrique. Paris: Pedone, 1992.
M’Baye, Keba, and Birame Ndiaye. “The Organisation of African Unity.” In The International Dimensions of Human Rights, edited by Karel Vasak, 583. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1982.
Mbondenyi, Morris Kiwinda. International Human Rights and Their Enforcement in Africa. Nairobi: LawAfrica Publishing, 2010.
Mbondenyi, Morris Kiwinda, and Tom Ojienda. “Introduction to and Overview of Constitutionalism and Democratic Governance in Africa.” In Constitutionalism and Democratic Governance in Africa: Contemporary Perspectives from Sub-Saharan Africa, edited by Morris Kiwinda Mbondenyi and Tom Ojienda, 4. Pretoria: Pretoria University Law Press, 2013.
Meredith, Martin. The State of Africa: A History of the Continent Since Independence. London: Jonathan Ball Publisher, 2005.
Mutua, Makau. Human Rights: A Political and Cultural Critique. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002.
Naldi, Gino. The Organisation of African Unity: An Analysis of Its Role. London: Mansell, 1989.
Nyanduga, Bahane T. “Conference Paper: Perspectives on the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Occasion of the 20th Anniversary of the Entry into Force of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.” African Human Rights Law Journal 6, no. 2 (2006): 255.
Nyarko, Michael Gyan, and Henrietta M. Ekefre. “Recent Advances in Children’s Rights in the African Human Rights System: A Review of the Decision of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child in the Talibé’s Case.” Law and Practice of International Courts and Tribunals 15 (2016): 385.
Prempeh, Henry Kwesi. “Africa’s ‘Constitutional Revival’: Fake Start or New Dawn?” International Journal of Constitutional Law 5, no. 3 (2007): 469–473.
Pye, Lucian W. Aspects of Political Development: An Analytical Study. Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Company, 1966.
Richard J. Reid, A History of Modern Africa: 1800 to the Present. Oxford: Wiley, 2012.
Rodney, Walter. How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. Washington, DC: Howard University Press, 1974.
Viljoen, Frans. International Human Rights Law in Africa. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
Umozurike, Uji. Five Years of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Ile-Ife: Obafemi Awolowo University, 1992.
———. The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Zuidpoolsingel: Brill/Noijhoff, 1997.
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Nyarko, M.G., Addaney, M., Boshoff, E. (2020). Historical Context of Governance and Human Rights in Africa. In: Addaney, M., Nyarko, M.G., Boshoff, E. (eds) Governance, Human Rights, and Political Transformation in Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27049-0_1
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