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African Identity, Morality and Well-Being

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Values, Identity, and Sustainable Development in Africa

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

Abstract

Informed by the urgent need to find a development paradigm that enables African countries to overcome poverty (as expressed in Sustainable Development Goal 1), this chapter analyses the strategic significance of African identity and morality. The chapter argues that Eurocentric values of individualism coming from colonialism have battered African identity. Essentially, the colonial enterprise sought to humiliate Africans and make them question and abandon those values that had served them well for millennia. The chapter maintains that there is need for a radical process of recovering the African values of communitarianism. This is represented by values such as Ubuntu/Botho, Ujamaa, Omoluabi and others. Embracing these indigenous values will enable Africa to achieve SDG 1, the chapter argues.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria

    Peter Olamakinde Olapegba & Olusola Ayandele

Authors
  1. Peter Olamakinde Olapegba
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  2. Olusola Ayandele
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Editors and Affiliations

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

    Ezra Chitando

  2. Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya

    Eunice Kamaara

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Olapegba, P.O., Ayandele, O. (2022). African Identity, Morality and Well-Being. 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_5

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