Questions surrounding democracy, governance, and development especially in the view of Africa have provoked acrimonious debates in the past few years. It remains a perennial question why some decades after political independence in Africa the continent continues experiencing bad governance, lagging behind socioeconomically, and its democracy questionable. We admit that a plethora of theories and reasons, including iniquitous and malicious ones, have been conjured in an attempt to explain and answer the questions as to why Africa seems to be lagging behind other continents in issues pertaining to good governance, democracy and socio-economic development. Yet, none of the theories and reasons proffered so far seems to have provided enduring solutions to Africa’s diverse complex problems and predicaments. This book dissects and critically examines the matrix of Africa’s multifaceted problems on governance, democracy and development in an attempt to proffer enduring solutions to the continent’s long-standing political and socio-economic dilemmas and setbacks.

This edited volume addresses a critical aspect of development in Africa: the intersection between education and governance. Using case studies and experiences from different parts of the continent, this book assesses how the potential for human resources, in terms of education, can be leveraged in the development process to achieve equity, inclusive development and governance outcomes in Africa. This book builds on the "resource curse" to focus on human resources as an alternative paradigm to sustainable development in Africa. At a time when concerns over access to quality education is an important issue among policy makers and international development agents, this timely project calls attention to one of the most critical aspects of development in Africa.

This book argues that the structure of the policy-making process in Nigeria explains variations in government performance better than other commonly cited factors.

This book explores the nexus between natural resources ownership and the right to development in Africa. The right to sovereignty over natural resources and the right to development are recognised and protected in an extensive framework of international, regional and domestic instruments. They guarantee people's entitlement to fully and freely utilise their natural resources as a means of subsistence and for economic, social and cultural development. Yet, despite the abundance of natural resources in Africa a majority of the people on the continent remain largely impoverished. This book articulates the central argument that to achieve the right to development in Africa requires appropriate governance of the continent’s natural resources to which the people of Africa are guaranteed sovereign ownership. With case study illustrations from Zimbabwe, Ghana, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, chapters explore the normative measures, specific guarantees and community entitlements to natural resources for the realisation of the right to development. The book will be an invaluable guide to scholars and postgraduate students of Natural Resources, Development and African studies as well as policymakers and practitioners in these areas.

This handbook constitutes a single collection of well researched articles and essays on African politics, governance and development from the pre-colonial through colonial to the post-colonial eras. Over the course of these interconnected periods, African politics have evolved with varied experiences across different parts of the continent. As politics is embedded both in the economy and the society, Africa has witnessed some changes in politics, economics, demography and its relations with the world in ways that requires in-depth analysis. This work provides an opportunity for old and new scholars to engage in the universe of the debate around African politics, governance and development and will serve as a ready reference material for students, researchers, policy makers and investors that are concerned with these issues.