This volume examines contemporary Africa, a vast continent which, while entering the era of globalization, is also confronted by a number of issues, including the environment and climate change, demographics, trade issues, internal and external migration, education, economic Issues, governance, and the influence of other countries. Written by former Prime Minister of Niger and current Chief Executive Officer of the Secretariat of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), Dr Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, this book offers an overview of Africa, and looks to the next generation of leaders in the continent, aiming to offer a manifesto for future change.
With this book, the author offers a personal look at some of the landmark policies, people, and institutions that have shaped Africa's post-independence history - and will continue to shape its future. It is a true inside account - told from a very personal perspective - of the evolution of African development over the last five decades.
Peacebuilding, Power, and Politics in Africa is a critical reflection on peacebuilding efforts in Africa. The authors expose the tensions and contradictions in different clusters of peacebuilding activities, including peace negotiations; statebuilding; security sector governance; and disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration. Essays also address the institutional framework for peacebuilding in Africa and the ideological underpinnings of key institutions, including the African Union, NEPAD, the African Development Bank, the Pan-African Ministers Conference for Public and Civil Service, the UN Peacebuilding Commission, the World Bank, and the International Criminal Court. The volume includes on-the-ground case study chapters on Sudan, the Great Lakes Region of Africa, Sierra Leone and Liberia, the Niger Delta, Southern Africa, and Somalia, analyzing how peacebuilding operates in particular African contexts. The authors adopt a variety of approaches, but they share a conviction that peacebuilding in Africa is not a script that is authored solely in Western capitals and in the corridors of the United Nations. Rather, the writers in this volume focus on the interaction between local and global ideas and practices in the reconstitution of authority and livelihoods after conflict. The book systematically showcases the tensions that occur within and between the many actors involved in the peacebuilding industry, as well as their intended beneficiaries. It looks at the multiple ways in which peacebuilding ideas and initiatives are reinforced, questioned, reappropriated, and redesigned by different African actors. A joint project between the Centre for Conflict Resolution in Cape Town, South Africa, and the Centre of African Studies at the University of Cambridge.
Doctoral Thesis / Dissertation from the year 2013 in the subject Politics - Region: Africa, , language: English, abstract: Through this study, Africa accelerates an African Agenda by embracing the philosophy of African Renaissance which is premised on the renewal and rebirth of Africa. This thesis therefore focuses on a continent aspiring to engage in dialogue and forge a partnership with the rich Global North to implement the millennium developmental plan like NEPAD. The primary lesson from this thesis is that the continent must ensure that it has the full support of 54 states and that continental plans cannot be implemented by a single country whose leadership is contested. Africa’s challenges in implementing the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) have to do with fundamentals of the very idea of NEPAD and its dependency underpinning. These challenges include structural, endogenous and exogenous factors which continue to constrain Africa’s endeavours. So the argument is that Africa failed to implement or was initially destined to fail. Deploying the dependency theory, the thesis delves deeper into Africa’s development trajectory to reflect that NEPAD, just like preceding developmental plans such as the Lagos Plan of Action (LPA), was destined to fail as long as there was no clear paradigm shift from the long standing and perpetual asymmetric donor – recipient relationship although NEPAD is espoused as a partnership but it is still steeped within weakened neo – colonial relations that are incommensurate with Africa’s developmental path.
This paper reviews major issues involved in achieving the objectives of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). Using a simple framework for evaluation, the analysis highlights considerations relevant to policymakers in the areas of poverty reduction, macroeconomic policies, trade promotion, attracting capital flows, and governance and institutional reforms. The analysis also identifies risks involved in achieving NEPAD's objectives. To minimize these risks, it will be important to make some goals more operational, to further broaden and deepen stakeholder participation, to establish a sound basis for monitoring progress, to prepare contingency plans, and to harmonize the role of regional institutions with NEPAD initiatives.
Nowhere in the world is the demand for peace more prominent and challenging than in Africa. From state collapse and anarchy in Somalia to protracted wars and rampant corruption in the Congo; from bloody civil wars and extreme poverty in Sierra Leone to humanitarian crisis and authoritarianism in Sudan, the continent is the focus of growing political and media attention. This book presents the first comprehensive overview of conflict and peace across the continent. Bringing together a range of leading academics from Africa and beyond, Peace and Conflict in Africa is an ideal introduction to key themes of conflict resolution, peacebuilding, security and development. The book's stress on the importance of indigenous Africa approaches to creating peace makes it an innovative and exciting intervention in the field.
Fully revised and updated, the second edition of The African Union continues to offer the most comprehensive overview of the work of the African Union (AU), with special emphasis on its capacity to meet the challenges of building and sustaining governance institutions and security mechanisms. This new edition: Re-examines the African Union at the historic moment of the golden jubilee of the OAU, its predecessor. It examines the AU’s efforts in its first decade, points out some of the organization’s weaknesses, and posits options for addressing more effectively the challenges of peace, security, and governance in coming years. Critically reviews several arrangements and initiatives, including the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) and the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM). Analyses performance of key institutions and programs of the AU, including the Commission, the Executive Council, the Assembly, and the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) as well as the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). Discusses how far instability and insecurity on the continent are consequences of bad governance and the lack of strategic leadership. Considers how the absence of a clearly articulated ideology may undermine the implementation of the AU Agenda. In addition to offering revised and updated chapters throughout, this edition includes one new chapter, which critically discusses the AU’s new international partnerships. With an emphasis on the current work of the AU and a view to the future of the organization, this book is essential reading for students and scholars researching African Politics and international organizations.
Africa’s Development Dynamics uses lessons learned in the continent’s five regions – Central, East, North, Southern and West Africa – to develop policy recommendations and share good practices. Drawing on the most recent statistics, this analysis of development dynamics attempts to help African leaders reach the targets of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 at all levels: continental, regional, national and local.
This is the first edition of the Yearbook on the African Union. It is first and foremost an academic project that will provide an in-depth evaluation and analysis of the institution, its processes, and its engagements. Despite the increased agency in recent years of the African Union in general, and the AU Commission in particular, little is known – outside expert policy or niche academic circles – about the Union’s activities. This is the gap the Yearbook on the African Union wants to systematically bridge. It seeks to be a reference point for in-depth research, evidence-based policy-making and decision-making. Contributors are: Adekeye Adebajo, Habibu Yaya Bappah, Bruce Byiers, Annie Barbara Hazviyemurwi Chikwanha, Dawit Yohannes Wondemagegnehu, Katharina P.W. Döring, Jens Herpolsheimer, Jacob Lisakafu, Frank Mattheis, Henning Melber, Alphonse Muleefu, John N. Nkengasong, Edefe Ojomo, Awino Okech, Jamie Pring, Elizabeth Sidiropoulos, Tim Zajontz.
