Law and Development in Africa

Abstract

Africa’s developmental dilemma has been a subject of global concern since its postindependence years. Over the years, African leaders and development experts have continually called attention to the chronic underdevelopment on the continent. Despite relative economic growth in a few African states in recent years, those concerns highlight the need for continual engagement with how to effectively rectify Africa’s general developmental challenges, and, with reference to the field of law and development, the role of law in that regard. I have argued elsewhere that law, as both a potent normative system and an effective tool of social order, has an imperative role to play in socio-economic development generally, and that there is a need for an Africa-specific law and development strategy for addressing Africa’s developmental challenges. Based on those premises, this article advances a distinctive perspective of law and development in Africa justified within Africanized theoretical and strategic frameworks as an original contribution to the debate on building an innovative pathway for the field of law and development in Africa. It argues that a law and development approach based on an Africanized theoretical and strategic framework will enhance law’s role in achieving sustainable development in Africa. It advocates an inclusive sustainable developmental approach that aims not only at economic development but also socio-political and human development simultaneously. It proposes a definitive 3 × 4 strategic framework prioritizing 12 specific developmental objectives for legal focus and that African states should consciously utilize law for actualizing policy in those 12 areas aimed at achieving inclusive sustainable development to lift the African populace out of poverty.