RETHINKING DEVELOPMENT: GOING BEYOND THE POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC EQUATIONS OF THE VARIOUS HUMAN DIMENSIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA – PROBLEMS, PROSPECTS AND THE WAY FORWARD

There is a serious need for African countries to rethink their development approach. Africa is only known in neg-ative terms the world over. Something positive is also found in the continent contributing to human development and well-being. This paper takes a critical look at issues plaguing the continent’s state of underdevelopment and argues that only the people can fashion their development path taking into cognisance the advantages of being a late-comer to the development process. These advantages can best be exploited with visionary leaders, respon-sive civil society and a cooperative international community working in tandem with progressive governments. Africa needs an enabling democratic environment, an environment where governments puts the interest of the poor first, pushing forward the virtues of democratic governance, partnership, participation and benefit-sharing among the key stakeholders: state–civil society–private sector and international community interface. It must at the same time avoid corrosive effects of corporate cronyism that promotes corruption and cynicism, which is at the heart of most governments in the continent. Bridges must be constructed between modernity and tradition, and between nature and human beings so that knowledge and technology are used to strengthen the positive well-being of the people. Therefore, the state, people and international community must come together to address the problems of overdevelopment, underdevelopment, environmental destruction and poverty. The conclusion i