Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Introduction: Values and Sustainable Development in Africa

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Values, Identity, and Sustainable Development in Africa

Part of the book series: Sustainable Development Goals Series ((SDGS))

  • 149 Accesses

Abstract

Recognising the importance of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 1 to Africa’s struggle against poverty, this chapter explores the centrality of values to the continent’s development. It reflects on the central contention that holistic and sustainable development in Africa must be hinged on values that are steeped in African soil. This is consistent with the African Union’s Agenda 2063 Aspiration 5 on African cultural identity, values and ethics. This chapter sets the conceptual canvass for the volume, interrogating the interconnectedness among the key concepts. Thus, the chapter summarises the dynamism characterising African philosophy, drawing attention to the discipline’s turn towards grappling with the continent’s existential challenges. It outlines the context in which the role of values to the achievement of SDG 1 in Africa is being analysed and reflects on key concepts such as decoloniality, Ubuntu and development. It also provides an overview of the chapters in the volume.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. 1.

    CGTN Africa, “Faces of Africa – Sankara’s Ghost,” February 17, 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cobVBgQKdlc, accessed 11 April 2021.

  2. 2.

    We are indebted to Rev. Dr Charles Mugaviri, a Zimbabwean leadership coach, for this formulation.

References

  • African Union Commission. 2015. Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want. Addis Ababa: African Union Commission.

    Google Scholar 

  • Akanle, Olayinka, and Jìmí O. Adésìnà. 2018. Introduction: The Development of Africa: Issues, Diagnoses and Prognoses. In The Development of Africa: Issues, Diagnoses and Prognoses, ed. Olayinka Akanle and Jìmí O. Adésìnà, 1–8. Cham: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Asafo, Dziedzorm R. 1999. Challenges in the Study of Religious Values. Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis 17 (1): 25–52. https://doi.org/10.30674/scripta.67242.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Asamoah-Gyadu, Kwabena J. 2005. ‘“Christ Is the Answer”: What Is the Question?’ A Ghana Airways Prayer Vigil and Its Implications for Religion, Evil and Public Space. Journal of Religion in Africa 35 (1): 93–117.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ayedola, David A. 2016. The Contribution of Philosophy to Africa’s Development. Inkanyiso: Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences 8 (1): 9–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berghs, Maria. 2017. Practices and Discourses of Ubuntu: Implications for an African Model of Disability? African Journal of Disability 6: a292. https://doi.org/10.4102/ajod.v6.292.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bevans, Stephen B. 2018. Essays in Contextual Theology. Boston: Brill.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Binns, Tony, Kenneth Lynch, and Etienne Nel, eds. 2020. The Routledge Handbook of African Development. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bongmba, Elias. 2016. Homosexuality, Ubuntu, and Otherness in the African Church. Journal of Religion and Violence 4 (1): 15–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Breidlid, Anders, and Roy Krøvel, eds. 2020. Indigenous Knowledges and the Sustainable Development Agenda. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chemhuru, Munamato, ed. 2019. African Environmental Ethics: A Critical Reader. New York: Palgrave.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chibvongodze, Danford T. 2016. Ubuntu is Not Only about the Human! An Analysis of the Role of African Philosophy and Ethics in Environment Management. Journal of Human Ecology 53 (2): 157–166.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chimakonam, Jonathan O. 2019. Addressing the Problem of Mass Poverty in the Sub-Saharan Africa: Conversational Thinking as a Tool for Inclusive Development. Filosophia Theoretica: Journal of African Philosophy, Culture and Religions 8 (1): 141–161.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chimakonam, Jonathan, and Louise du Toit, eds. 2018. African Philosophy and the Epistemic Marginalisation of Women. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chimuka, Tarisayi A. 2020. The Zimbabwe Council of Churches and the Ethical Reconstruction of Zimbabwe. In The Zimbabwe Council of Churches and Development in Zimbabwe, ed. Ezra Chitando, 109–123. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Chisale, Sinenhlanhla S. 2020. Politics of the Body, Fear and Ubuntu: Proposing an African Women’s Theology of Disability. HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 76 (3): a5871. https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v76i3.5871.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chitando, Ezra, Lovemore Togarasei, and Masiiwa R. Gunda, eds. 2020. Religion and Development in Africa. Bamberg: University of Bamberg Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Church, Jacqueline. 2012. Sustainable Development and the Culture of uBuntu. De Jure 45 (3): 511–531.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cisneros, Ariane S., and Shanta Premawardhana, eds. 2011. Sharing Values: A Hermeneutics for Global Ethics. Geneva: Globethics.net.

    Google Scholar 

  • Comim, Flavio, Mozaffar Qizilbash, and Sabina Alkire. 2008. The Capability Approach: Concepts, Measures and Applications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Comstock, W. Richard. 1984. Toward Open Definitions of Religion. Journal of the American Academy of Religion 52: 499–517.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diara, Benjamin C.D., and Nkechinyere G. Onah. 2014. Corruption and Nigeria’s Underdevelopment: A Religious Approach. Research on Humanities and Social Sciences 4 (4): 21–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Enu, Donald B. and A. E. O. Esu. 2011. Re-Engineering Values Education in Nigerian Schools as Catalyst for National Development. International Education Studies 4 (1): 147–153.

    Google Scholar 

  • Etieyibo, Edwin, ed. 2018. Decolonisation, Africanisation and the Philosophy Curriculum. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fagunwa, Temitope. 2019. Ubuntu: Revisiting an Endangered African Philosophy in Quest of a Pan-Africanist Revolutionary Ideology. Genealogy 3 (3): 45. https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy3030045.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gade, Christian B.N. 2011. The Historical Development of the Written Discourses on Ubuntu. South African Journal of Philosophy 30 (3): 303–329.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gasper, Des. 2012. Development Ethics – Why? What? How? A Formulation of the Field. Journal of Global Ethics 8 (1): 117–135.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hountondji, Paulin J. 2009, September. Knowledge of Africa, Knowledge by Africans: Two Perspectives on African Studies. RCCS Annual Review 1 (1): 121–131.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huber, Joseph. 1984. Clusters of Grapes: Sow a Character and You Reap Destiny. Gweru: Mambo Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Idang, Gabriel E. 2015. African Culture and Values. Phronim 16 (2): 97–111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ilo, Stan Chu, and Idara Otu. 2020. Theology and Development in Africa. In The Routledge Handbook of African Theology, ed. Elias K. Bongmba, 224–246. London: Routledge.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Imafidon, Elvis. 2019. African Philosophy and the Otherness of Albinism: White Skin, Black Race. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kakwata, Frederick. 2017. The Progressive Pentecostal Conception of Development within an African Context of Poverty. Stellenbosch Theological Journal 3 (1): 159–183.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kanu, Ikechukwu A. 2014. African Philosophy and the Issue of Development. PARIPEX: Indian Journal of Research 3 (7): 1–5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Katongole, Emmanuel. 2011. The Sacrifice of Africa: A Political Theology. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2017. Born from Lament: The Theology and Politics of Hope in Africa. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaulemu, David. 2021. Linking Values, Institutions and Development in Zimbabwe. In Zimbabwe @ 40: Development, Democracy and Transformation, ed. Lloyd Sachikonye and David Kaulemu, 21–45. Harare: Weaver Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keita, Lansana, ed. 2011. Philosophy and African Development: Theory and Practice. Dakar: CODESRIA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kumi, Emmanuel. 2019. Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals: An Analysis if the Potential Role of Philanthropy in Ghana. Journal of Asian and African Studies 54 (7): 1084–1104.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lashitew, Addisu, and Eric Werker. 2020. Do Natural Resources Help or Hinder Development? Resource Abundance, Dependence, and the Role of Institutions. Resource and Energy Economics 61: 101183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.reseneeco.2020.101183.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • le Grange, Lesley. 2018. Decolonising, Africanising, Indigenising, and Internationalising Curriculum Studies: Opportunities to (Re)Imagine the Field. Journal of Education 74: 4–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mangena, Fainos. 2019. Discussing Inclusive Development and Governance In Zimbabwe: Pragmatizing Hunhu/Ubuntu Philosophy. Filosofia Theoretica: Journal of African Philosophy, Culture and Religions 8 (1): 39–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matolino, Bernard. 2014. Personhood in African Philosophy. Pietermaritzburg: Cluster Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matolino, Bernard, and Wenceslaus Kwindingwi. 2013. The end of Ubuntu. South African Journal of Philosophy 32 (2): 197–205.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mbetwa, Choolwe. 2018. Why Africa is Poor. Chingola: Merina.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mhlanga, Johanne. 2020. Refugee Protection in the era of Complex Migratory Flows: A Reflection on Ubuntu and Social Work Practice. Africa Journal of Social Work 10 (1): 41–45. Special Issue on Ubuntu and Social Work.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mkandawire, Thandika. 2011. Running While Others Walk: Knowledge and the Challenge of Africa’s Development. Africa Development 36 (2): 1–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Molefe, Motsamai. 2019. Ubuntu and Development: An African Conception of Development. Africa Today 66 (1): 96–115.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moyo, Dambisa. 2009. Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mpofu, William. 2018. Decoloniality as a Combative Ontology in African Development. In The Palgrave Handbook of African Politics, Governance and Development, ed. Samuel O. Oruntoba and Toyin Falola, 83–102. New York: Springer Nature.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Mungwini, Pascah. 2016. The Question of Recentering Africa: Thoughts and Issues from the Global South. South African Journal of Philosophy 35 (4): 523–536.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murove, Munyaradzi F. 2016. African Moral Consciousness. London: Austin Macauley Publishers Limited.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2020. African Politics and Ethics: Exploring New Dimensions. Cham: Palgrave.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Murshed, S. Monsood. 2004. When Does Natural Resource Abundance Lead to a Resource Curse? EEP Discussion Paper 04–01. London: International Institute for Environment and Development.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murungi, John, ed. 2019. Africanizing African Legal Ethics. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ndlovu-Gatsheni, Sabelo. 2018. Epistemic Freedom in Africa: Deprovincialization and Decolonization. London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2020. Decolonization, Development and Knowledge in Africa: Turning a New Leaf. London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Nduku, Elisabeth, and Christoph Stückelberger, eds. 2013. African Contextual Ethics: Hunger, Leadership, Faith and Media. Geneva: Globethics.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nesbitt, Francis N. 2008. Review Article: Post-Colonial Anxieties: (Re)Presenting African Intellectuals. African Affairs 107 (427): 273–282.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ngunjiri, Faith W. 2016. “I Am Because We Are”: Exploring Women’s Leadership Under Ubuntu Worldview. Advances in Developing Human Resources 18 (2): 223–242.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Njoku, Francis O. 2004. Development and African Philosophy: A Theoretical Reconstruction of African Socio-Political Economy. Lincoln: iUniverse.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ntibagirirwa, Symphorien. 2009. Cultural Values, Economic Growth and Development. Journal of Business Ethics 84: 297–311.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Odimegwu, Clifford O., ed. 2020. Family Demography and Post-2015 Development Agenda in Africa. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Okeja, Uchenna, ed. 2019. African Philosophy and Global Justice: Critical Essays. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Okyere-Manu, Beatrice D., ed. 2021. African Values, Ethics, and Technology: Questions, Issues, and Approaches. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oppenheim, Claire E. 2012. Nelson Mandela and the Power of Ubuntu. Religions 3: 369–388.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orobator, Agbonkhianmeghe E. 2005. From Crisis to Kairos: The Mission of the Church in the Time of HIV/AIDS, Refugees and Poverty. Nairobi: Paulines Publications Africa.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oruntoba, Samuel O., and Toyin Falola, eds. 2018. The Palgrave Handbook of African Politics, Governance and Development. New York: Palgrave.

    Google Scholar 

  • Osabuohein, Evans, ed. 2020. The Palgrave Handbook of Agricultural and Rural Development in Africa. New York: Palgrave.

    Google Scholar 

  • Petersen, Kirsten H., ed. 1987. Religion, Development and African Identity, Seminar Proceedings 17. Uppsala: Scandinavian Institute of African Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramose, Mogobe. 1999. African Philosophy through Ubuntu. Harare: Mond Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • SATORI. (2015, September). International Differences in Ethical Standards and in the Interpretations of Legal Frameworks. https://satoriproject.eu/media/D3.2-Int-differences-in-ethical-standards.pdf. Accessed 08 July 2021.

  • Sesanti, Simphiwe. 2016. African Philosophy in Pursuit of an African Renaissance for the True Liberation of African Women. Journal of Black Studies 47 (6): 479–496.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaheed, Jabaar. 2021. In Search of a New Paradigm of Value-Reorientation through Rational Reconstruction of Indigenous Values. Academia Letters, Article 1169. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL1169.

  • Singh, Julietta. 2018. Unthinking Mastery: Dehumanism and Decolonial Entanglements. Durham: Duke University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Stuit, Hanneke. 2016. Ubuntu Strategies: Constructing Spaces of Belonging in Contemporary South African Culture. New York: Palgrave.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Swanson, Dalene M. 2007. Ubuntu: An African Contribution to (Re)Search for/with a ‘Humble Togetherness.’. Journal of Contemporary Issues in Education 2 (2): 53–67.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tosam, Mbih J., and Peter Takov, eds. 2016. Philosophy in Culture: A Cross-Cultural Perspective. Mankon, Bamenda: Langaa RPCIG.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Norren, Dorine E. 2020. The Sustainable Development Goals Viewed Through Gross National Happiness, Ubuntu, and Buen Vivir. International Environ Agreements 20: 431–458.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Stam, Gertjan. 2015. Ubuntu and Peace: Without a Mother, There is no Home. In Women’s Leadership in Peace Building: Conflict, Community and Care, ed. Mirjam van Reisen, 37–54. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Veugelers, Wiel, and Paul Vedder. 2003. Values in Teaching. Teachers and Teaching 9 (4): 377–389.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Villa-Vicencio, Charles. 2009. Walk with us and Listen: Political Reconciliation in Africa. Cape Town: University of Cape Town Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walsh, Catherine E. 2018. The Decolonial for: Resurgence, Shifts, and Movements. In On Decoloniality: Concepts, Analytics, Praxis, ed. Walter D. Mignolo and Catherine E. Walsh, 15–32. Durham: Duke University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wane, Njoki N., and Kimberly L. Todd. 2018. Introduction: The meeting of Decolonial Minds. In Decolonial Pedagogy: Examining Sites of Resistance, Resurgence and renewal, ed. Njoki N. Wane and Kimberly L. Todd. Springer Nature: Cham.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Wariboko, Nimi. 2019. Ethics and Society in Nigeria: Identity, History, Political Theory. Rochester, NY: Rochester University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Wariboko, Nimi, and Toyin Falola, eds. 2020. The Palgrave handbook of African Social Ethics. New York: Palgrave.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zimunya, Clive Tendai, Joyline Gwara, and Obert Bernard Mlambo. 2015. The Feasibility of an Ubuntu Ethic in a Modernised World. Journal of African Foreign Affairs 2 (1/2): 5–26.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, Religion and Ethics, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe

    Ezra Chitando

  2. Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya

    Eunice Kamaara

Authors
  1. Ezra Chitando
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Eunice Kamaara
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, Religion and Ethics, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe

    Ezra Chitando

  2. Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya

    Eunice Kamaara

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Chitando, E., Kamaara, E. (2022). Introduction: Values and Sustainable Development in Africa. In: Chitando, E., Kamaara, E. (eds) Values, Identity, and Sustainable Development in Africa. Sustainable Development Goals Series. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-12938-4_1

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation