Journal of African Foreign Affairs (JoAFA) Volume 7, Number 3, December 2020
About This Edition
ISSN : 2056-564X E-ISSN: 2056-5658
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Dear readers,
In this issue of the Journal ofAfrican Foreign Affairs, contributors focus on an Africa-centered development and security analysis from multiple perspectives. They include pressures from the international environment (Enaifoghe et.al.), the evaluation of bilateral relationships with foreign entities such as the European Union and Gambia (Omotosho et. al.), and China and Ethiopia (Benjamin). The authors also provide an assessment of some internal challenges: the issue of porous borders such as between Ghana, Benin, and Nigeria (Obah-Akpowoghaha et. al.), and of the need to embed African values in African policy evaluation using an approach based on the concept of “Ubuntu” (Uwizeyimana).
Furthermore, authors suggest solutions that are both practical (the African Continental Free Trade Agreement by Okafor and Udibe) and theoretical, linking ideology and international politics (Agbude and Lawal).
While these analyses are far from being exhaustive, they point to a trend that is needed in the context of the current geopolitical configuration. The Covid-19 era combines dangers of the pre-World War I (WWI) period when major powers were competing for preeminence in the international arena, and the Great Depression (1929-1933) that brought economic collapse to the world.
African intelligentsia began to emerge after WWI very critical of the colonial enterprise which many saw as feudalism within the (European) democratic system. Independent movements began after World War II that followed the Great Depression. The Covid-19 era is showing major weaknesses in dominant world powers. This will provide a situation which can waken African countries and embolden its leaders and civil societies.
In this context, assessing the challenges and opportunities presented to African polities is an urgent call.