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.

This book derives from a symposium held at Cornell University in April 2014. The symposium explored development financing, which has become an important area of policy discussion in Africa and other developing areas in recent years. Using multifaceted and multidisciplinary analytical approaches, it considers the role of the banking system, the stock market, credit access, external aid, and sovereign wealth funds in the evolving development finance architecture. Further, the volume looks at China’s role as an aid donor, the impact of BRICs partnerships in South Africa, the role of NEPAD in mobilizing resources for infrastructure development, and the links between law, trade, and regional integration. The study concurs with previous analyses that greater access to credit by the poor represents the most effective way of fighting poverty and raising the standards of living in Africa. Cornell’s Institute for African Development and the African Development Bank were cosponsors of the 2014 symposium.

This title was first published in 2003. Based on a blend of knowledge and perspectives from a variety of disciplines this volume examines the human-environment interaction in Africa, with a focus on the economic, social and political processes that generate environmental change and problems in this region. Currently there are controversies over and challenges to such concepts and issues as environment-human relationships, ecological resilience, decertification, sustainable development, globalization and North-South dialogue. This book draws upon past and present research findings to discuss these issues. It features: an examination of the characteristics, processes and patterns of environmental crises; an analysis of the principal issues and challenges facing policy makers and implementers; and the promotion of awareness of theoretical, empirical and comparative research. The volume not only seeks to answer some of the old questions, but also open up new ones for further discussion.

Africa is home to many of the world's fastest-growing economies. This powerful book traces new continental institutions for development and their capacity to affect economic growth, regional integration, and international cooperation in Africa. It also assesses Africa's ability to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and the African Union's Agenda 2063. As the continent's most ambitious development initiative since independence, the African Union Development Agency (or AUDA, previously known as the New Partnership for Africa's Development or NEPAD) provides an excellent case study for examining how an African-based, continent-wide development institution emerged. Inspired by the ideas of Pan-Africanism and the African Renaissance, NEPAD was created to bring Africa into the globalizing world, to close the gap between developing and developed countries, to enhance economic growth, and to eradicate poverty. Almost two decades after NEPAD's creation and it was given its transformation into AUDA, this brilliant book examines its role in achieving these goals.

International Economic Law and African Development discusses international perspectives on African law and economic development in the light of broader globalisation imperatives. It is the third in what can loosely be described as a series on Africa and gobalisation by the Mandela Institute, the first two being Globalisation and Governance and International Economic Law - Voices of Africa.