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Right to Development Governance in the Advent of the African Continental Free Trade Area

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 July 2021

Carol Chi Ngang Open the ORCID record for Carol Chi Ngang [Opens in a new window]
Carol Chi Ngang*
Affiliation:
Free State Centre for Human Rights, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa and National University of Lesotho, Roma, Lesotho
*
E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]
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Abstract

In this article, I explore the question of whether the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) could provide the framework mechanism for actualizing the right to development in Africa. The imperative for socio-economic and cultural development suggests rethinking the manner in which Africa is governed and, importantly, also the necessity of putting into place functional mechanisms in view of enacting the future that is envisaged for the continent. Article 22(2) of the African Charter enjoins state parties to individually or collectively undertake measures to give effect to the right to development. After several futile endeavours aimed at finding an appropriate mechanism for development, Africa eventually takes a giant stride in establishing the AfCFTA. From a decolonial perspective, I examine the prospects of the AfCFTA, particularly with regard to competing interests that dominate the African development space. At face value, the AfCFTA appears to provide an enabling framework for the nurturing of productive capabilities, the flourishing of local initiatives, the eradication of poverty and expanded opportunities for development. Notwithstanding, I contend that the inherently neoliberal nature of the AfCFTA leaves a further question of whether the free trade area is likely to deliver socio-economic and cultural development benefits to the peoples of Africa.

Keywords

Right to developmentdevelopment governanceAfCFTAdecolonial theoryneoliberalismAfrica
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of African Law , Volume 65 , Issue 2 , June 2021 , pp. 153 - 178
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of SOAS University of London

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Footnotes

*

LLD (University of Pretoria). Researcher, Free State Centre for Human Rights, University of the Free State; Senior Lecturer, National University of Lesotho.

References

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21 Id, para 70.

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27 AU Commission “Agenda 2063”, above at note 12, para 61.

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33 Centre for Minority Rights Development (Kenya) & Minority Rights Group International on behalf of Endorois Welfare Council v Kenya Comm 276/2003 (2009) AHRLR 75 (ACHPR 2009), paras 269–98; Democratic Republic of Congo v Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda (2009) AHRLR 9 (ACHPR 2009), para 95; Sudan Human Rights Organisation & another v Sudan (2009) AHRLR 153 (ACHPR 2009), para 224.

34 African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights v Republic of Kenya (2017) Appl No 006/2017, paras 202–11.

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39 The Limburg Principles on the Implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights UN Document E/CN.4/1987/17 adopted in Maastricht on 2–6 June 1986, para 14.

40 African Charter, arts 20(1), 21(1) and 22(1); AU Commission “Agenda 2063”, above at note 12, para 74(e).

41 UNDP Human Development Report 1990, above at note 1 at 10; S Fukuda-Parr “The human development paradigm: Operationalizing Sen's ideas on capabilities” (2003) 9/2–3 Feminist Economics 301 at 303.

42 CC Ngang “Systems problem and a pragmatic insight into the right to development governance for Africa” (2019) 19/1 African Human Rights Law Journal 365 at 387–93; Ngang “Towards a right-to-development governance in Africa”, above at note 36 at 116; Ngang “Differentiated responsibilities under international law”, above at note 17 at 278–80.

43 AU Commission “Agenda 2063”, above at note 12, para 74(e) and paras 47–49.

44 Id, paras 40–46.

45 SJ Ndlovu-Gatsheni and S Zondi “Introduction: The coloniality of knowledge: between troubled histories and uncertain futures” in SJ Ndlovu-Gatsheni and S Zondi (eds) Decolonizing the University, Knowledge Systems and Disciplines in Africa (2016, Carolina Academic Press) 3 at 3–14; T Sithole “A decolonial critique of multi-inter-transdiciplinary (MIT) methodology” in SJ Ndlovu-Gatsheni and S Zondi (eds) Decolonizing the University, Knowledge Systems and Disciplines in Africa (2016, Carolina Academic Press) 107 at 118–21; SJ Ndlovu-Gatsheni “Global coloniality and the challenges of creating African futures” (2014) 36/2 Strategic Review for Southern Africa 181.

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47 African Charter, art 22; African Youth Charter adopted in Banjul, the Gambia on 2 July 2006, art 10; Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa adopted in Maputo, Mozambique on 11 July 2003, art 19; African Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (revised) adopted on 11 July 2003 in Maputo, Mozambique, art 3(2); the constitutions of Cameroon, Malawi, the DRC explicitly enshrine the right to development.

48 Yu Keping “Governance and good governance: A new framework for political analysis” (2018) 11 Fudan Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences at 2.

49 Dean Governmentality, above at note 26 at 24.

50 Id at 18.

51 N Rose, P O'Malley and M Valverde “Governmentality” (2009) (Sydney Law School – Legal Studies Research Paper 09/94) at 3.

52 Ibid.

53 R Huff “Governmentality: Political science” Encyclopaedia Britannica available at: <https://www.britannica.com/topic/governmentality> (last accessed on 20 March 2020).

54 Olowu, above at note 38 at 288.

55 AU Constitutive Act, above at note 11, art 3(g); AU Commission “Agenda 2063”, above at note 12, paras 27 and 35; African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance adopted in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 30 January 2007, art 2(6); AU Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption adopted on 11 July 2003 in Maputo, Mozambique, art 3(1); HA Wani and A Suwirta “Changing dynamics of good governance in Africa” (2015) 7/2 International Journal for Educational Studies 189 at 189–202.

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59 Declaration on the Right to Development, above at note 30, art 2(3).

60 African Charter, arts 1 and 22(2).

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62 AU Commission “Agenda 2063”, above at note 12, para 76.

63 Id, paras 19, 27 and 35, 74(b) and 74(c).

64 African Charter, preamble para 8 and art 22.

65 Ngang “Towards a right-to-development governance”, above at note 36 at 114–16. The right-to-development governance is anchored on four conceptual principles, namely: effective people participation; liberty in the making of development choices; advancement of human capabilities for the sustainable management of the continent's wealth of natural resources; and recognition of the African identity and value systems within a legal framework that guarantees genuine accountability and equitable (re)distribution for the improved collective well-being of the African peoples.

66 African Charter, preamble para 8 and art 22.

67 For example, the Endorois case, Centre for Minority Rights Development v Kenya above at note 33, paras 269–98; Ogiek community land rights case, ACtHPR v Republic of Kenya, above at note 34, paras 201–17. In these cases, the African Commission found the government of Kenya in violation of the right to development of the indigenous communities in question.

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69 Ngang “Systems problem”, above at note 42 at 377–87.

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72 UNDP Human Development Report 1990, above at note 1 at iii.

73 T Lemke Foucault's Analysis of Modern Governmentality: A Critique of Political Reason (trans by E. Butler, 2019, Verso) at 70.

74 Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area adopted by the AU at the 10th Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government in Kigali, Rwanda on 21 March 2018, AU Doc TI21086_E, arts 2 and 3(a).

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76 Article XXIV of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT 1947), para 8(b); see also UN Economic Commission for Africa “African Continental Free Trade Area: Policy and Negotiation Options for Trade in Goods” (2016) United Nations UNCTAD/WEB/DITC/2016/7 at 4.

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80 Kuhlmann and Agutu “The African Continental Free Trade Area”, above at note 5 at 763.

81 United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung “Building a sustainable and inclusive continental free trade area: Nine priority recommendations from a human rights perspective” (2017) UNECA-TES Policy Brief at 1.

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85 Declaration on the Right to Development, above at note 30, art 1(2); African Charter, art 22(1).

86 In a press statement in April 2019, former US Deputy Secretary of State for Africa, Nagy Tibor, observed that “Africa is an incredibly, incredibly rich continent and it seems, so far it has been incredibly rich for colonial powers, for the governments in place; it has not been rich for the peoples who live there”.

87 Cofelice “African Continental Free Trade Area”, above at note 3 at 32.

88 Id at 32–33.

89 Mevel and Karingi “Towards a continental free trade area in Africa”, above at note 3 at 283.

90 Ajibo, above at note 75 at 891.

91 While trade can indeed contribute to raising living standards, there is no guarantee that it necessarily does. For example, Nigeria and South Africa are the largest market economies in Africa, but the same time, both countries have the largest number of impoverished people on the continent, according to the World Bank estimates: 83 million (40% of the population of Nigeria) and 30.3 million (55.5% of the population of South Africa), indicating that trade does not directly translate into improved well-being for the entire population.

92 Mureverwi “Welfare decomposition of the Continental Free Trade Area”, above at note 3 at 15.

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94 Cofelice “African Continental Free Trade Area”, above at note 3 at 34; UNECA and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung “Building a sustainable”, above at note 81 at 1–8.

95 UNECA and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung “Building a sustainable”, above at note 81 at 10–18.

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104 Social and Economic Rights Action Centre (SERAC) & another v Nigeria Comm 155/96 (2001) AHRLR 60 (ACHPR 2001).

105 Id, para 70.

106 Ken Saro-Wiwa and others v Royal Dutch Shell Petroleum Corporation 2009 WL 1574869 (S.D.N.Y. 23 April 2009); The Guardian “Shell pays out $15.5m over Saro-Wiwa killing” (9 June 2009) The Guardian, available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jun/08/nigeria-usa> (last accessed on 5 April 2020).

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108 Lungowe & others v Vedanta Resources, para 1; EN Chegwe “Case review: Vedanta Resources PLC & another v Lungowe & others” (2019) National Open University of Nigeria at 7.

109 Lungowe & others v Vedanta Resources, para 84.

110 African Union Commission Economic Affairs Department Draft Pan-African Investment Code, December 2016, art 1.

111 Akeyewale “Who are the winners and losers …?”, above at note 3.

112 Van Lennep “The African Continental Free Trade Area III”, above at note 82 at 5.

113 Cofelice “African Continental Free Trade Area”, above at note 3 at 33.

114 CC Ngang “Systems problem”, above at note 42 at 387–92.