Process In Africa Research Articles

Engendering Peacebuilding in an Endangered Country: Strategic Interventions for Women Peace Activism in Nigeria

The recognition of women's peacebuilding activities, arguments for why women should be involved in peacebuilding, and the development of strategies for their inclusion, has been a dominant focus in the literature and activism of women engaged in the arena of development, peace and security. Women's involvement in peace and security processes in Africa has gained momentum over the last two decades largely as a direct consequence ofliving and/or working in conflict zones. In most wars, gender roles are strictly defined: women and children are seen as the victims, while men are viewed as both the perpetrators of violence and the peacemakers. Women take on many different roles in wartime and have diverse experiences. Nonetheless their experiences tend to be distinct from men's and also share a set of common vulnerabilities. In this paper, women's participation in peace building and conflict management is examined at both regional and national levels with specific reference to Nigeria. It argues that gender mainstreaming is particularly significant in its application to conflict transformation, as it is increasingly recognized at both the international and domestic levels that women and men do not experience conflict in the same way and have different needs and priorities in the aftermath. It submits that there is a need for peacebuilding to incorporate policies which address women's specific health and economic needs.

<em>Peace Incentives: Economic Aid and Peace Processes in Africa</em>

How does economic assistance influence the success or failure of peace processes in Africa? Can economic assistance act as an incentive to facilitate an end to conflict? The literature largely ignores aid as a factor supporting peace processes. In addressing this topic, the current study tries to assess the impact of donor economic aid on recent African peace processes. This research points to the conclusion that international assistance can be a positive incentive for lasting peace.

Limitations and Challenges of Building Democracy in the Conditions of Multiethnic Society in Zambia

ABSTRACT Some politicians in Europe ever more frequently claim that multiculturalism has failed. Others assert that it is primarily the current model of democracy which is in crisis. On the other hand Africa is generally perceived as a continent without experience with either democratic tradition or even liberal concept of multiculturalism. But is that really the case? What do we know about the diversity of the African continent in Central Europe? A potential positive example of successful democratisation and multiculturalism forming processes in Africa could be presented by Zambia. Where are then the limitations and challenges in the process of building a democratic system within the framework of African multiculturalism?

The African Union’s Call for Global Pan-Africanism and the Ghana-Diaspora Relations in the 21st Century

One of the most outstanding initiatives that the African Union (AU) has taken that distinguishes it from its predecessor (the Organization of African Unity) is the adoption of the African diaspora as its sixth region. This article has two principal sections. First, by establishing the reasons for adopting the African diaspora as its sixth region from development perspectives, it explores how the African diaspora can engineer development processes in Africa and the challenges that the AU must address if the African diasporas are expected to play this role. In the second section, the article explores how Ghana provided a political base for Pan-Africanism and how Nkrumah laid an intellectual foundation for the movement. It also examines how Rawlings and Kufuor built on Nkrumah’s Pan-Africanist legacy by creating incentives for the returnees/repatriates from the diaspora. While probing the character of the returnees/repatriates phenomenon and politics in Ghana, the second section also explores the controversies that center on dual citizenship, the right of return and abode, and voting rights of Ghanaians Living Abroad (GLA). Finally, the section investigates the receptivity of the traditional political system to the returnee/repatriate phenomenon in Ghana. The article concludes by making recommendations on how the Ghana-diaspora relations can be strengthened.

The African Network for Evidence-to-Action on Disability: A role player in the realisation of the UNCRPD in Africa

This African Journal of Disability supplement focuses on papers presented at the third AfriNEAD Symposium in 2011. In this closing editorial, we want to give an overview of the rationale and major modes of operation of the African Network for Evidence-to-Action on Disability (AfriNEAD) with special focus on recommendations made at the 2011 AfriNEAD Symposium. AfriNEAD is guided and informed by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) for its research themes. The issues that emerged from AfriNEAD 2011 ranged from children and youth with disabilities; education across the lifespan; economic empowerment; the development process in Africa; health, HIV and AIDS and community-based rehabilitation; holistic wellness; to research evidence and utilisation. Disability-related stigma, the value of emancipatory research and the need to recognise a broader scope of valid methodologies were also highlighted.

Development process in Africa: Poverty, politics and indigenous knowledge.

BackgroundPersons with disability run the danger of not profiting from the development process due to exclusion from basic services and opportunities. Still, the knowledge base on exclusion mechanisms is relatively weak and there is a danger that important aspects are not addressed as they are hidden behind established understandings that are not critically scrutinised.ObjectivesThe main purpose of this article was to highlight critical thoughts on prevailing knowledge of the relationship between disability and poverty, the policy base for addressing the rights of persons with disability, and culture as a key component in continued discrimination.MethodThis article aimed at integrating three papers on the above topics presented at the 2011 African Network for Evidence-to-Action on Disability (AfriNEAD) Symposium. The researchers have therefore thoroughly examined and questioned the relationship between disability and poverty, the influence of policy on action, and the role of culture in reproducing injustice.ResultsThe article firstly claims that there are limitations in current data collection practice with regards to analysing the relationship between poverty and disability. Secondly, ambitions regarding inclusion of persons with disability in policy processes as well as in implementation of policies are not necessarily implemented in an optimal way. Thirdly, negative aspects of culture in discrimination and bad treatment of disabled need to be highlighted to balance the discussion on disability and culture.ConclusionA critical view of prevailing understandings of disability and development is key to producing the knowledge necessary to eradicate poverty amongst persons with disability and other vulnerable groups. Not only do we need research that is actually designed to reveal the mechanisms behind the disability–poverty relationship, we need research that is less tied up with broad political agreements that is not necessarily reflecting the realities at ground level.

The dynamics of the loss of oil revenues in the economy of North Sudan

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Note on contributorMohammed Hussein Sharfi earned his doctorate from the University of Reading, UK, on Sudanese foreign policy. He has worked in the human rights field and in political affairs in the UN in Switzerland and Sudan, and produced many analytical reports, early warning notes and briefings as part of his work with the UN Mission in Sudan as an information analyst in the Joint Mission Analysis Centre from May 2006 to July 2011. His research interests are in foreign policy in Africa and the Middle East, political and economic developments in Sudan, and decision-making processes in Africa, the Middle East and the Gulf region.

Study of ceftriaxone-resistant Klebsiella spp. clinical isolates from a rural hospital in Mozambique

Commensal/ooportunistic bacteria pathogens have been implicated severally in bacteremia and knee-joint infection. Methods & Materials: Fresh samples of feces (n =65) were obtained from a group of invading cattle egrets (≈ 1000) on trees in Vom, Nigeria. These egrets were not deterred by efforts at tree-trimming. Samples were enriched in tryptone-soy broth and plated on MacConkey agar using standard procedures. All positive cultures were sub-cultured on cefixime-rhamnose-sorbitol MacConkey agar (selective medium) and antibiogram was carried out using diffusion disc with 7 different antibiotics. Results: E. coli (n =58) and Micrococcus spp. (n =13) were isolated from the faecal material following enrichment. The pooled E. coli colonieswere sensitive toCiprofloxacin (+++), Chloramphenicol (+++), Streptomycin (+), Clindamycin (+) andTetracycline (+) but was resistant to Vancomycin VA (30) and Vancomycin VA (5).The Micrococcus spp was sensitive to Ciprofloxacin (+++), Vancomycin VA (30) (++) and Vancomycin VA (5) (+) but resistant to Streptomycin, Clindamycin, Tetracycline and Chloramphenicol. Conclusion: Food animal production processes in Africa is particularly opened to abuse of antibiotics with stockmen often treating their cattle without recourse to veterinarians. Since the ecology of cattle egrets and trans-humance cattle are similar with shared environment, food sources, watering points andmovement patterns, it is highly likely that drugs and medicaments are also shared by these species inadvertently. While this work has shown evidence of resistant organisms in fecal materials in cattle egret, more studies will become necessary to identify the potential epidemiologic role these species pose in spreading resistant organisms to poultry and other livestock.

The ex-combatant ID card: peacebuilding and bureaucratic identity in Liberia

Disarmament demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) programmes have the specific objective of facilitating the transition of combatants into civilian life. Paramount to their functioning is the certification of combatants by means of bureaucratic documentation: the ex-combatant identification card (ID). In the Liberian case, the ex-combatant category came to embrace a wider segment of the population, thus undermining the basic principle pivotal to all DDR programmes that a dichotomy exists between civilians and combatants. The article argues that documents, as exemplified by the ID card, are not simply bureaucratic instruments used by organisations in charge of peacebuilding, but are also constitutive of knowledge, practices and subjectivities themselves. Absolutely essential in the construction of the ex-combatant subject, the ID card was at the core of bureaucratic practices for managing this group after the end of the war. The Liberian case is of wider relevance and importance, since the techniques for screening and registration developed there modelled other contemporary DDR processes in Africa.

Africa and the challenges to democratisation

Democratisation process in Africa has been under increasing threat from despotic political leaders who have failed to contend with the sweeping forces of globalisation demanding for the opening up of political space. Armed with claims of the liberation struggle, most of them failed to provide for their people with many incidences of high poverty levels, and high illiteracy rates among the grassroots people. A strong prodemocracy wind that has swept across the continent has been viewed with suspicion by most African leaders who perceive it as Western attempts at neo-colonialism. This has further compromised the relationship between the state and civil society as governments have accused civil society of being conduit to destabilise African countries. The continued existence of ex-dictators in active politics or in influential positions in many African countries, have remained a threat to the restoration or deepening of democratic institutions within the African continent.

IT Reengineers Government Processes in Africa

Governments in various developing economies are deriving significant value by redesigning their service-delivery and administrative processes using IT. The authors discuss how Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Kenya are exploiting IT to redesign their government processes.

Building effective partnerships: the role of trust in the Virus Resistant Cassava for Africa project

BackgroundVirus Resistant Cassava for Africa (VIRCA) is an agricultural biotechnology public-private partnership (PPP) comprising the Donald Danforth Plant Sciences Center (DDPSC), National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) of Uganda and Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI). The project seeks to develop virus-resistant cassava for farmers in Kenya and Uganda. Yet, there is much public skepticism about the use of genetically modified (GM) crops and private sector involvement in Africa. This case study sought to understand the role of trust in the VIRCA partnership.MethodsWe conducted semi-structured, face-to-face interviews to obtain stakeholders’ views on the challenges to, and practices for, building trust in the VIRCA partnership. Interviewee responses, together with relevant documents and articles, were analyzed to generate descriptions of how trust is operationalized in this evolving agbiotech PPP. Data were analyzed based on recurring and emergent themes from the interviewee responses.ResultsVarious factors undermine and build trust in agbiotech PPPs. Individual and institutional enthusiasm and detailed collaborative agreements stipulating partner roles and responsibilities are likely to enhance trust among partners. On the other hand, negative perceptions propagated by international partners about the capacities of African institutions and scientists, coupled with slow regulatory processes in Africa, are likely to be impediments to trust building.ConclusionsBased on the findings of this study, we have derived four key lessons. First, differences in the capacity of the partner institutions and individuals should be respected. Second, technical and infrastructural capacity support for regulatory processes in Africa must be built. Third, detailed agreements and open and transparent partner practices during project implementation are necessary to dispel perceptions of inequality among partners. Fourth, institutional and individual commitment to succeed is important in initiation of the project. These lessons can be used by other agbiotech PPPs as a guide for building trust among partners and with the community.

Understanding Economic Transformation in Africa Through Country Studies

Abstract Economic transformation typically entails changes in the structure of output and the movement of labor from rural to urban areas as the significance of agriculture declines. In most rich countries, this process is accompanied by industrialization. Little is known about this process in Africa at least in part because of a lack of reliable data. To bridge this gap in knowledge, each of the six Africa based country strategy support programs of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) commissioned papers on economic transformation in Africa. The countries studied are Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria and Uganda. In May 2011, IFPRI together with Ghana's Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) hosted a conference in Accra in May 2011 where the papers were presented and discussed. These papers are published in this volume and this note provides an introduction to these papers.

Security Sector Reform: An Essential Challenge for Peace Building Processes in Africa

Security Sector Reform: An Essential Challenge for Peace Building Processes in Africa

Faith-Based Organizations and Development: Prospects and Constraints

The failure of development as expressed in the high level of poverty in African states and the consequent emphasis of bilateral and multilateral aid agencies on participatory development and decentralization has brought to the fore the role of Non-governmental organization, of which Faith-based organizations (FBOs) are among the most useful, in the development process in Africa. Not much is known about FBOs and their development activities. This paper explores the various forms and dimensions of FBO engagement with development in Nigeria and their interaction with other development aid actors in Nigeria. Most importantly, it examines their interaction with donors and the Nigerian state. It concludes that FBOs are important but silent actors in development whose success is closely tied to their religious nature and whose activities can be further enhances if the constraints arising out of their religious nature can be reconciled with the logic of the state.

The state of capacity building in Africa

How can we account for the actual state of capacity building in Africa? This paper attempts to respond to this question, building on the existing literature and statistical data available both within and outside the continent. Using the arguments put forward by different national and international institutions around the world, it is possible to trace the path followed by the capacity building process in Africa around change and human capital theories. Following the creation of ACBF in 1991 and thanks to the intervention of a number of development partners, capacity building practices have significantly influenced the functioning of African States, the implementation of educational systems, the expansion of microfinance, and the impact of multilateral trade negotiations. This paper suggests that capacity building in Africa still requires urgent and vigorous actions towards a qualitative and quantitative of scientists, for the coordination of the dispersed efforts made by various regional and sub‐regional institutions, and for the strengthening of individual and collaborative programmes aimed at developing African human resources in Africa.

Leadership Effectiveness, Truth Commissions and Democratization in Africa

This paper explores the significance of transformational and political leadership in strengthening the capacities of truth commissions as effective mechanisms for democratization in transitional polities. First, the paper sets out to trace some of the conflicting goals and political compromises that attend to the establishment of truth commissions in Africa as well as lack of political will on the part of political leadership. The paper then identifies and discusses major problems that confront the institutionalization of truth commissions as veritable instruments of post-conflict transformation and democratic consolidation in the continent. Drawing insights from South Africa, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria, the paper argues that national reconciliation processes in Africa are characterized by a paradigm shift from the primary concern of leadership choices to those of justice, truth-seeking, granting of amnesty and forgiveness. In conclusion, the paper stresses the role of transformative leadership as crucial to enhancing the capacities of truth commissions in consolidating democracy in post-conflict states.

Decentralisation and Elections in Benin

IntroductionDecentralisation is a type of governance reform that has been undertaken all over the world. African countries are also following this trend. The decentralisation process started in the 1990s as aid conditionality, that is, donor countries required it several years after the commencement of the democratisation process in African countries. Decentralisation is not only an administrative governance reform; it also brought political change and turbulence in African countries. The political impact of decentralisation in Africa has extended from the local level to the national and eventually to its international relations.Many African countries ended the one-party system or the military regimes, and adopted a multi-party system in the 1990s. Elections were carried out under the new democratic system. Some African countries had their very first experience of a legal and peaceful regime turnover through elections. We cannot undervalue the African actors' efforts to develop democratisation even if a sceptical evaluation of the democratisation process in Africa is dominant among political scientists.In African political studies, election were never considered a focal issue especially during the period of military and one-party regimes. However, some African countries continued their democratic process despite difficult conditions. As such, election became a crucial issue. If democratisation advances, decentralisation should have a more direct and greater impact on the political situation in Africa.This article tries to understand the political impact of decentralisation in Africa through case studies on Benin. Since the 1990s, donor countries as well as the Benin Government have considered Benin a model of democratisation in Africa. Hence, it would be meaningful to analyse Benin's case and relate it to the decentralisation process in Africa. Here we study the presidential, the legislative and the local elections held in 2006, 2007 and 2008 respectively, focussing on the first impact of decentralisation on the elections in Benin.Political Influence of Decentralisation in African CountriesBy the beginning of the 1990s, African countries were required to start a political reform process-democratisation by the international community, particularly the donor countries. Several years after, the international community required the African countries to decentralise for the purpose of administration reform. According to the donors, the over-centralisation of executive power and financial resources led to inefficient governance and corruption. These long time failed experiences of development assistance were examined by the donor countries and international organisations which resolved for the need to empower the local government through devolution so as to enable them to achieve social and economic development in the local communities. Decentralisation was therefore recognised as a panacea for governance reform. Eventually however, decentralisation began to expose its dysfunction in Africa (Nack Mback, 2003, 8, 40-41).There are numerous studies on decentralisation in Africa; researchers have analysed decentralisation within the framework of international co-operation and administration studies. They have focused on administrative institutions, but not on political and economic dynamism. Saito mentioned that decentralisation is a process to redefine the roles and responsibilities of the central and the local governments. In addition, decentralisation is essentially a political process (Saito, 2008, 284).As mentioned above, decentralisation is a major political challenge; it increased resources and changed the power balance in local politics. Election monitoring teams were sent by the international community to watch over the local elections in African countries, but not many researchers are interested in the impact of decentralisation on the elections in Africa. In fact, neither did many African countries initiate repeated peaceful elections after the start of decentralisation reforms. …

Democratization in Africa 1990–2010: an assessment

Over two decades have passed since the ‘third wave’ of democratization began to roll across sub-Saharan Africa in the early 1990s. The introduction to this collection provides an overall assessment of the (lack of) progress made in democratization processes in Africa from 1990 to 2010. It highlights seven areas of progress and setbacks: increasingly illegitimate, but ongoing military intervention; regular elections and occasional transfers of power, but realities of democratic rollback and hybrid regimes; democratic institutionalization, but ongoing presidentialism and endemic corruption; the institutionalization of political parties, but widespread ethnic voting and the rise of an exclusionary (and often violent) politics of belonging; increasingly dense civil societies, but local realities of incivility, violence and insecurity; new political freedoms and economic growth, but extensive political controls and uneven development; and the donor community's mixed commitment to, and at times perverse impact on, democracy promotion. We conclude that steps forward remain greater than reversals and that typically, though not universally, sub-Saharan African countries are more democratic today than in the late 1980s. Simultaneously, we call for more meaningful processes of democratization that aim not only at securing civil and political rights, but also socio-economic rights and the physical security of African citizens.

Understanding the processes of becoming a football team fan in an African context: the case of Dynamos Football Club fans in Zimbabwe

This article seeks to analyse the process of becoming a football fan within a Zimbabwean context. It is based on the study of fandom, on fans of a team called Dynamos Football Club based in Zimbabwe. It seeks to analyse the process of becoming a fan, noting the different reasons why people become attached to football teams. It provides a sociological analysis of the different processes involved in turning one from a mere spectator of sport to becoming a fan. The article argues that becoming a fan is complex process which often includes various processes. Whilst fans often highlight significant events that made them decide to become a fan, the process is rarely an overnight event, but rather a lengthy one. Studies on fandom have tended to concentrate on Western nations. There is thus a huge gap in understanding fan processes in Africa with only limited studies in big footballing nations such as Nigeria and South Africa. This article tries to redress this imbalance as well.