A Quest for Knowledge Democratization: Implications for Averting Africa’s Knowledge Dependency

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to implicate Africa’s knowledge (in)dependency by assessing African universities’ knowledge production and dissemination gaps vis-à-vis indigenous knowledge, and constraints to- and opportunities for- knowledge democratization. A qualitative approach was employed to generate information by reviewing extant literatures and conducting interviews. The results have shown that there were constraints emanating from historical antecedents; ideology; Eurocentric and global North/West epistemic dominance; re-westernization designs, African resource, technology, and science limitations; and language barriers to participate in knowledge co- creation. As a result, African universities and intellectuals were not sensitive to the interests and needs of their research communities and subjects. Whereas there were opportunities to democratize knowledge, failure to expedite them catapulted the constraints/hurdles to reinforce power imbalance, to exacerbate the gaps/conflicts, and to sustain African Knowledge dependency. This, therefore, calls for revitalizing and reinvigorating concerted energies and talents to connect knowledge production to practical concerns of everyday life of the knowledge users and/or participants; and to engage in production and utilization of relevant, responsive, and competent knowledge responsive to methodological, epistemological, ontological, and socio-political realities.