Background

Africa’s development is one of the most critical and important issues on the global agenda. This point has been attested to by the global adoption of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and the immediate adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on the expiry of the MDGs, to drive development in Africa and other developing countries, while simultaneously not isolating the developed countries. This is because the underdevelopment of Africa is a problem that does not affect Africa alone, but directly or indirectly affects the world at large. Today, Africa remains largely mired in underdevelopment rather than showing the needed signs of development. Generally, independence struggles in most African countries were contingent on the belief that decolonization and independence would lead to the requisite development on the continent. However, more than half a century after the demise of colonialism, development is still elusive on the continent despite repeated efforts.

In other words, over half a century after most African nations became independent, large parts of the continent remain underdeveloped despite the fact that Africa was originally projected to grow faster than Asia. Asia today has in the main has shown more promise (and signs) of growth and development than Africa, especially against the backdrop of the ascendancy of the Asian Tigers and the Asian transition economies such as India and China. These Asian countries have in particular been able to lift many of their populations out of poverty in contrast to Africa, where many remain in poverty. While Asia has shown resilience and focused development attempts and wealth creation, many parts of Africa, especially Sub-Saharan Africa, appear stuck at the level of negative development indicators.

What Africans and the world at large have come to realize is that Africa cannot and should not continue on the path of fixated underdevelopment. Unfortunately, the road to development is also not clear-cut or easy. While the issue of African development has become a universal demand and the need for positive change has become more urgent and profound, trajectories of development have also become more complex and more dynamic as the stakes of development have been raised and are constantly changing owing to the interface of local and global currents, undercurrents and political economy. While the manifestations of development are easy to identify, the processes and pathways are not. Hence, while the debates about African development exist and continue (OECD 2015; Africa Institute of South Africa [AISA] 2002; Muriith 1997; Moss 1997), the objects, natures and times of the debates are changing rapidly, as African development realities continue to emerge and evolve and thus necessitate continuous examination and interrogation.

For about the last 30 years most African nations have demonstrated underdevelopment potentiality rather than development capability, as can be seen in objective development indicators like the Corruption Index, poverty prevalence, unemployment rate, gender equality and literacy rate. According to the World Bank, even the economic growth rate witnessed in some parts of Africa has not translated to an improved standard of living for the people. Indeed, 48.5% of Sub-Saharan Africans continue to struggle with poverty while even more struggle with absolute poverty. Job creation has not kept pace with the booming population, which has reached the 1 billion mark – or 15% of the world’s total population – and is projected to increase to 20% by 2030, in light of falling labor productivity figures and the fact that the manufacturing sector has remained largely stagnant since the 1970s. In addition, many African economies trail the rest of the world in competitiveness.

Unless specific, current, established and fresh comparative development problems confronting the continent are well examined, properly researched, well documented, and sufficiently understood, there cannot be positive development achievement in Africa. It is against this background that this book engages the development challenges confronting Africa with a view to presenting fresh and current examination, narratives, interpretations and pathways to the continent’s established, current and evolving development problems. This book will interrogate and answer critical, current and pragmatic problems confronting Africa in definitive ways and provide workable pathways for resolving development problems that will have a positive impact on scholarship, policy and practice. The book adds depth to and broadens the knowledge base on development in Africa. Students, academics, scholars, practitioners, thinkers, policymakers, development partners and all those interested in issues affecting Africa’s development should find this book very interesting, relevant and useful.

This book seeks to contribute to research and policy by expanding scholarly and practice knowledge on Africa’s development trajectories. It is an academic, pragmatic and practical policy toolkit for Africa’s development problems, providing new depth, and fresh theoretical, methodological and conceptual frameworks for understanding and resolving Africa’s development quagmires within broader global sustainable development strategies. Generally, the book is relevant to people seeking a comprehensive, relevant, workable understanding of Africa’s development issues. Certainly, Africa’s development issues are complex, complicated, evolving, and dynamic. Thus, this book adds new on-the-ground, multilevel and multidimensional perspectives to the relevant issues hampering Africa’s development. This book is practical and pragmatic yet methodical and scholarly; it is also highly comparative in ways that will account for problems, issues and solutions to Africa’s development trajectories both multinational and transnational. It is current and contemporary and engages cutting-edge issues in great detail in ways that are very useful for teaching, research, policy, practice and general knowledge on development in Africa.

Structure and Orientation of the Book

Together with this introductory chapter, this book comprises 22 chapters. This chapter, frames the orientation and contextualizes the issues in the book, Chap. 2 conceptualizes and intellectually frames the development realities of Africa, while Chap. 3 accounts historically and theoretically for the occurrences that have come to shape and define development issues confronting Africa. Chapter 4 continues the focus and argument of Chap. 3 given the importance of the issues of interest to the two chapters. Chapter 4 further theorizes on Africa’s development problems.

Chapter 5, ‘Poverty in Africa’, confronts, both theoretically and practically, one of the most definitive development issues of Africa. Poverty is one of the most significant issues confronting Africa today. In fact, poverty is key signifier of Africa’s underdevelopment and is an overarching problem facing the continent. This chapter therefore examines the subject of poverty on the continent both empirically and theoretically. Chapter 6 discusses education in Africa. Education is at the very heart of human and material development for Africa, especially in view of the development experiences of China, India and Malaysia, among others. Therefore if Africa is to develop, education will have to play a central and important role. Against this backdrop, this chapter examines the state of education in Africa, adopting empirical data and descriptive/analytical approaches. The chapter is detailed, pragmatic and contemporary while also being future-oriented. The chapter is also analytical and problem-solving in a scholarly and a practical manner.

Chapter 7 covers agriculture, industrialization and the economy. Common narratives and interpretations of Africa’s development and underdevelopment hinge on the role played by agriculture and industrialization in the economy. This is important as many accounts of development are centered on the state of the economy and, generally, most African nations are still agrarian and rural. What then is the interface between agriculture, industrialization and the economy in Africa? Can agriculture sustainably drive development in Africa? Can agriculture lead the industrial paths of Africa? What is the state of agriculture and industrialization in Africa? What is the missing link in the economy and can agriculture and industrialization reconnect the severed chain of Africa’s development? What is the state of Africa’s economy and what role can agriculture and industrialization play in it? What are the policy issues and what are the solutions? Are there country-specific issues that can drive home the points and the contours of Africa’s development? At the end of the development tunnel is there any hope for the alignment of agriculture, industrialization and the economy in Africa? If yes, what is to be done? If not, what is to be done? Through a relevant up-to-date case study, this chapter engages the background issues.

‘Politics, Democracy and Governance’ in Africa is the title of Chap. 8. This chapter is very important because governance issues are central to Africa’s development and underdevelopment. Nations’ governance systems, processes and structures will ultimately determine how resources are aggregated, shared and distributed. They will also determine how resources are mobilized for development outcomes. Central to governance, however, are politics and democracy. Thus, this chapter uses a case study to examine the relationships among politics, democracy and governance in Africa as they affect the development realities on the continent. This chapter is conceptual, theoretical and empirical, dealing with the relevant data and cases in comparative terms. Chapter 9, ‘Violence and Terrorism’ boldly confronts unique issues confronting Africa. These two issues remain intractable in Africa today (see Akanle and Omobowale 2015). Unfortunately, most African countries appear to lack understanding of these problems and also have poor capacity for solving them. There is virtually no sub-region of Africa that is totally exempted from violence and terrorism. From North Africa to Southern Africa, West Africa to Central Africa, the Horn of Africa to East Africa, violence and terrorism exist and they certainly have various impacts on development and underdevelopment. This chapter is conceptual, theoretical and academic, yet practical and relevant to policy. Germane data are used as is a case study to drive home the relationships between the twin issues.

Chapter 10, ‘Africa and the Media’, also examines a very relevant issue at the center of Africa’s development – the interface of Africa and the media. The role of the media in affecting and effecting change and development has been widely acknowledged and appreciated. This is particularly so in Africa against the background of the Arab Spring and the emergence of transparent elections driven by new media. The mediaFootnote 1 has, however, become a double-edged sword in Africa, playing both a positive and a negative role. In other words, while the media was instrumental in driving the change during the Arab Spring, it is also the engine of negative representations of Africa, the propagation Africa’s negative image and the dissemination of propaganda, which has affected investments and development on the continent. Yet, the media is also sometimes positively implicated in directing development values to the continent. It is therefore very important to engage the manifestations, developments and ramifications of the media in Africa in search of sustainable development.

In Chap. 11, issues relating to childhood, youthhood and social inclusion in Africa are discussed. A major development issue in Africa is that of social inclusion. While most African countries are underdeveloped, it is the children and the youth in particular that suffer the consequences of underdevelopment of Africa. Children and youths are often excluded outright from the development processes of Africa and suffer more as a result of the underdevelopment outcomes of the continent. This is why, according to Alcinda Honwana, there is a prolonged period of waithood and youthhood in African countries as many youths are trapped, finding it difficult to transit to adulthood due to their large-scale disproportional experience of Africa’s underdevelopment. The case is similar and sometimes worse for children, who suffer negative socio-cultural, economic and physical constructions on the continent; even the laws have failed to successfully address negative constructions and experiences of children in Africa (see Akanle 2012). Since childhood and youthhood are development flipsides, it is important to examine their development, socioeconomic and intergenerational interfaces in African countries. The background issues are discussed in this chapter through the life experiences of different individuals and groups across Africa.

‘Health and Diseases in Africa’ is the title of Chap. 12. Africa is one of the countries of the world with significant health and disease burdens. This is may be traced to the living environments, health belief systems and health infrastructure on the continent. These health and disease burdens have development implications especially seen against the backdrop of the axiom health is wealth. This chapter therefore examines the health and disease trajectories of Africa and demonstrates and documents their development implications. The chapter is strong, conceptual, empirical, engaging, polemic, theoretical and methodical with relevant data and perspectives for scholarship, policy and practice across the countries of Africa. Chapter 13 is entitled ‘Corruption and Africa’. Corruption, like poverty, is among the most pervasive and dangerous problems confronting Africa today. In terms of causality, no other problem retards development in Africa like corruption (see Akanle and Adesina 2015). This chapter therefore critically examines corruption as a development issue in Africa through a comparative analysis of African countries. The chapter is empirical, theoretical, conceptual and comparative with specific case studies and transnational examples. Issues discussed include: What is corruption? How prevalent is corruption in Africa? Is corruption a way of life in Africa? How has corruption manifested in Africa over time and what is the trend? What data are available to demonstrate corruption in Africa? Are there differences among nations and sub-regions of Africa relative to the processes and nature of corruption? How has corruption affected development in African countries? Are there solutions to corruption in Africa? Specific examples are also discussed.

‘Africa and the Climate Change Dilemma’ is the title of Chap. 14. Climate change is a major issue confronting the world today and no continent or community is immune to it. In fact, climate change is one of the few issues on which it was very difficult to get global consensus until very recently. Implementing the consensus however remains a challenge. Despite contributing little to climate change in the world, Africans are among the most affected and yet capacity to understand and ameliorate its effects on the continent remains weak. It is against this background that this chapter investigates the trajectories and consequences of climate change on the continent. The chapter is comparative (continentally and intercontinentally), empirical, polemic, analytical, conceptual and theoretical.

Chapter 15 is called ‘Gender in Africa’. Africa is a heavily patriarchal continent and this has huge implications for gender equality/equity and development (Akanle 2011). Traditional norms and values exist in Africa that always makes the gender question relevant in Africa’s development engagements. It has been variously maintained that it is impossible for Africa to understand its development problems and develop without answering the gender question. This chapter therefore engages the gender question in Africa’s development. Indicative questions include: What is gender? How does gender manifest in Africa and how has it affected the development of nations on the continent? How is gender affecting Africa’s development? What are the conceptual, theoretical, and empirical and policy issues around gender and development in Africa? Are African countries different or the same in terms of gender and development? How can Africa manage its gender and development issues so that inclusive sustainable development may be possible in the short and the long run?

Chapter 16 engages the issue of ‘Non-state Actors as the Strategic Realm in Africa’s Development’. Non-state actors have been variously recognized as important engines of growth and development across the world. This is because they have an objective and critical existence that makes it possible for them to engage/disengage with the state in driving the development of nations and continents. Thus, this chapter examines the contributions of non-state actors to development on the continent, Africa. Their contributions are examined over time across African nations in terms of both positive and negative contributions. Issues relating to the abuses that have marked their contributions are also examined. Some of the questions asked in this chapter are: What is/who are non-state actors? What are their typologies? What development philosophies guide their existence and operations? What is their political economy? To what extent have they/have they not contributed to the development of countries in Africa? What are their challenges? What are their successes? Have there been abuses? Are they very important to Africa’s development? How can they better drive development in Africa? Where are the cases of best practices in Africa and other developing and developed countries and what can be learnt from the best practices?

‘Globalization and Africa’s Development’ (Chap. 17) discusses one of the most sensitive and controversial subjects in the social sciences and development studies—globalization. This is partly because of its multifaceted manifestations, as well as its global political economic and generalized impacts on developing countries. Thus, this chapter engages the many elements of globalization in policy, scholarship and practice manners. It traces the development of globalization, the place of developing countries, the role of developed nations and the overall implications of globalization for Africa in development terms. Indicative questions posed in this chapter include: What is globalization? What are the historical and developmental specificities of globalization? What are the drivers of globalization? What are the forces and elements of globalization? What are the theoretical contours of globalization? How has globalization influenced Africa’s development to date? What roles has Africa played in globalization? To what extent has Africa benefited/not benefited from globalization? How can Africa positively appropriate globalization for sustainable development?

Chapter 18 gives a broad overview of regional and sub-regional organizations and Africa’s development. It has been generally recognized that regional and sub-regional organizations are very important in driving growth and development. This is particularly so judging from the experiences of the European Union (EU). Africa is certainly a continent of regional and sub-regional blocs. However, the extent to which Africa’s regional and sub-regional blocs have contributed to development on the continent remains a big question. This chapter therefore critically, theoretically and pragmatically engages the interlinkages of regional and sub-regional blocs and Africa’s development, leveraging on continental and national issues through a case study of trade agreements.

‘International Organizations and Africa’ are the subject of Chap. 19. The chapter examines the implications of global/international organizations for Africa’s development. The debates around the contributions of international organizations to the development of Africa are objectively engaged in this chapter. Chapter 20 examines ‘African Development Initiatives’. This chapter interrogates the development philosophies and operational frameworks of development initiatives of Africa as the continent struggles to aggregate policies to drive common development on the continent. It links the continental development initiatives with global ones to prevent lopsided and vacuous analysis.

Chapter 21 engages the subject of ‘Africa and International Migration’ through a case study set in Cameroun. Africa is a continent of migrants. A significant proportion of international migrants in Europe, the United States of America (USA), Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia are Africans. While Africans immigrate to other continents, the continent is also a major recipient of migrants whether as a transit point or as a destination. Hence, due to large-scale migrations from Africa, the continent is among the highest recipients of remittances from abroad to the extent that remittances from migrants of African origin dwarfs foreign direct investments (FDIs) into Africa. Hence, a number of African countries may actually not be able to survive without remittances from their nationals abroad. Apart from remittances as development gains of international migration, Africa also benefits from extra-financial gains just as it suffers some losses from international migration. This chapter examines the relationship between international migration and the development of Africa from a historical perspective.

Chapter 22 is headed ‘Aid and the Development of Africa’. Aid is among the most controversial development strategies in the world today (see Easterly 2006). Yet, Africa seems to be trapped in the aid web as many African countries remain, to varying degrees, somewhat dependent on aid from developed countries (Easterly 2006). Major issues around aid and development are whether they are necessary drivers of growth and development (by providing important materials and supports) or disablers of growth and development as they build a dependence syndrome and foster corruption. This chapter engages the trajectories of aid as development strategies and frameworks for Africa. Indicative questions this chapter will answer include: What is aid? What are the philosophical, policy, empirical and practice issues around aid? How has aid driven or not driven development in Africa? How sustainable is aid in driving Africa’s development? What are the established and emerging issues and debates around aid, especially in Africa? How can aid be made conformable and in tune to drive the development of Africa? Is aid necessary at all for Africa’s development? And so on. This chapter, like the others, is detailed, polemic, objectively balanced, engaging, comparative, empirical, policy and practice-oriented and scholarly.