This book provides a conceptual analysis of the right to development in Africa with a decolonial critique of the requirement to have recourse to development cooperation as a mechanism for its realisation. The analysis is intended to account for the fact that the setbacks to development in Africa are not necessarily caused by the absence of development assistance but principally as a result of the lack of an operational model to steer the processes for development towards the highest attainable standard of living for the African Peoples. The arguments are situated within the framing of the decolonial and capability theories to justify the need for Africa to dissociate from paternalistic colonial models and the rationale for a shift in development thinking towards an alternative model embodied in the right to development.

As a point of departure, the claim is stated that the mechanism of development cooperation is conceptually opposed to the African conception of the right to development, which guarantees an entitlement to socio-economic and cultural self-determination in the making of development choices and policy alternatives. To justify this claim, a historical account on the origins of the right to development is detailed out. In tracing its origins in this way, further illustration is provided on how the right to development has evolved in Africa not as a solicitation for foreign aid but essentially as an assertion of self-determination against the development injustices that deprive the peoples of Africa of their inherent entitlement to socio-economic and cultural development.

The right to development in Africa is, accordingly, portrayed as having a dual nature; on the one hand, as a human rights concept intended to ensure that development processes are informed and regulated by the principles of justice and equity and on the other hand, as a development paradigm that envisages improved well-being and better living standards for the peoples of Africa. Pertaining to the central enquiry whether the right to development in Africa is achievable through development cooperation, it is argued that the probability is minimal, owing to the geopolitical motives behind prevailing patterns of development cooperation, which are innately lopsided and intended primarily to safeguard the interests of foreign stakeholders. In disagreement with arguments in favour of development cooperation as a means to achieve the right to development, it is argued that the right to development in Africa was originally conceived as a remedy mechanism to redress endemic development injustices on the continent.

In effect, the right to development entails the fulfilment of three normative requirements: sovereignty in domestic development policy making; the obligation to eliminate obstacles to development; and the need for an enabling environment for the actualisation of socio-economic and cultural development. However, in spite of the range of instruments, which African states have committed to in ensuring that the right to development becomes reality, effective implementation remains problematic due to a combination of factors including the dominant influence of foreign stakeholders, which despite evidence of violations of the right to development resulting from their actions and operations, remain insulated from legal accountability. On this note, the dimension of the right to development as a paradigm for development is examined with clarification that its transformative potential is yet to be explored to the benefit of the peoples of Africa.

The argument is then further advanced for a shift in development thinking from dependence on development assistance to a reading of the right to development as an alternative functional model for development suited to Africa. This model is defined as the right to development governance and demonstrated to have the potential to accelerate the processes for transformation and sustainable development within the context of Agenda 2063 among other development initiatives. A number of policy recommendations are outlined on priority measures and actions that need to be taken both at the continental level by the African Union and at national levels by African states governments as a guarantee that envisaged economic, social and cultural development is achieved in Africa.

While the book broadly focuses on Africa, specific illustrations are drawn from a few countries including Cameroon, Libya, South Africa, Ethiopia and Nigeria, selected randomly from the five principal geopolitical regions that make up the economic building blocs of the continent. A cursory reference is also made to a few other countries in the course of the discussions to illustrate a point. While the analysis on these five countries may not present an accurate picture of the 55 sovereign states in Africa with disparate dynamisms and diversities in the development challenges they experience, the argument is sustained that the idea of a human right to development is much more profound and suited to redressing the setbacks to development on the continent as a whole and thus, cuts across the borderlines of state sovereign.

It is hoped that this book will make a noteworthy contribution to the evolving discourse on the right to development in Africa and globally, and possibly also broaden the debate on human rights and development and rights-based approaches to development more generally. The motivation to write the book draws from the deep-seated socio-economic and cultural challenges and the global contradictions that subject the impoverished peoples of Africa to a seemingly endless struggle against domination. It contains exciting insights and novel perspectives, which with anticipation, will open up avenues for further research and robust academic engagements. It would be of great satisfaction therefore, if the book achieves the intended purpose of motivating other African scholars in taking the interest to drive the discourse on the right to development in Africa much further.