The idea of the African state in the context of the African Renaissance

Abstract

This mini-dissertation examines the idea of the African state within the context of the African Renaissance. It explores African-ness of the state in Africa – and contends that it is central to achieving the objectives of the African Renaissance project. The study advocates for reconfiguration and re-imagining of the African state as imperative to the Renaissance project. A decolonial theoretical lens which pronounces a decolonial turn; the need to decolonise power, knowledge, and being to reconfigure and restructure the state in Africa – including continental institutions, the African Union and its programmes, the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) and New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) is employed. The decolonial lens is used to expose the global context of coloniality and how the African Renaissance ought to respond to colonial designs that have marginalised the African continent.