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ISSN : 1744-2532 E- ISSN 2516-5305
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Africa is expected to have been more developed and progressive considering her endowment of huge natural resources. These abundant natural resources, if adequately managed, could have transformed Africa and elevated it well above other continents. However, despite the availability of natural resources in many African countries, Africa has remained very poor, largely underdeveloped, and dependent on other continents. Colonialism has partly been blamed for the reasons why Africa could not effectively manage her natural resources and for the slow progress and development of Africa. Africa’s natural resources were illegally transferred for the industrialization of Europe, while Africa suffers from poverty, malnutrition, and an infrastructural deficit. It was hoped that as Africa broke away from the shackles of colonialism, significant progress and development would be achieved. African leaders were brimming with hope, optimism, and confidence that Africa would be highly developed and sustainable, considering the huge natural and human resources on the continent.
However, after five decades of freedom, many African countries and their citizens still wallow in abject poverty, bloody regional crises, underdevelopment, military interventions into 21st century politics and governance, authoritarian governments run by aging African leaders who perpetually want to remain in power indefinitely, electoral violence, insecurity, high-level corruption, the absence of the rule of law, and total disrespect for fundamental human rights, among other contemporary African challenges. Africa is now run or governed by Africans, yet the continent cannot fix its problems. The former liberation movements (now civil society organizations) that fought to liberate Africa from the bondage of colonialism seem unwilling or unable to transform their countries into well-governed and functional democracies. Today, too often, political power has been won by highly corrupt leaders, yet these liberation movements and citizens still accept them. The once vibrant and constructive agitations and demonstrations have all been politicized due to patronage systems, which seem to be intimidating voters into voting for the status quo. This has severe implications for the enthronement of tyrants and undemocratic leaders in public offices.
These implications could also manifest in forms of leadership or governance failure, corruption, poor implementation of policies and programs that can transform the continent, and inadequate funding of public utilities such as education, healthcare, security, infrastructure, electricity, job creation, water, and sanitation, among others. Africa is among the continents that have not been making the expected significant progress in attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Poverty and other SDGs are still thorny issues affecting Africa’s sustainable development. To address these issues, successive governments in most African countries have devised measures purposively aimed at enhancing the achievement of the SDGs; however, these measures have yielded little or no positive outcome.
This brings to the fore the importance of this very edition or issue of African Renaissance, which consists of well-researched articles on contemporary African issues. It is a collection of articles from multi-disciplinary backgrounds that provides solutions and information on how to eradicate thorny issues limiting Africa’s sustainable development. The findings of the articles in this edition add to the general body of knowledge and understanding on how Africa can effectively promote good governance and strong political-willed leaders that can contribute to Africa's rapid achievement of the SDGs. Importantly, this issue is multi-disciplinary focused and draws on relevant articles from topics such as ethnicity, corruption, leadership, civil society participation, national security, public governance, armed banditry, public service reforms, women's slavery, migration and evacuation, national identities, and policing structure, among others. Ultimately, findings from these articles would inform African leaders on how to transform and make Africa great.