Sustainable Development as an African Agenda

Abstract

One of the most common misconceptions about Africa is that Africa is only a recipient of ideas and aid. This view of Africa is not only narrow-minded and dismissive, but it also overlooks the fact that Africa has been a rich source of ideas about how societies should be. These ideas stem from politics, history, and economics and include notions of development embedded in the ethos of African societies. This paper adds to mainstream accounts of Africa’s role in global development, looking at the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals 2030 and Africa Agenda 2063 and illustrating the role of African institutions and individuals in informing both regional and global development agendas. We describe some of the contributions of African institutions and leaders to global development debates. We do this by presenting the case of Agenda 2063 to illustrate the continental initiatives that preceded and most likely informed discussions that led to the SDG’s agenda, challenging the misconception of Africa as merely a recipient of ideas about global development. We describe how Africa exerted its agency by presenting its Africa Agenda 2063 to the continent and the world. Africa Agenda 2063 tabled a continental vision of Africa and its development, which was part of the debates about the Post 2015 Development Agenda taking place at the time. We detail the timeliness of Africa’s Agenda 2063 in contemporary discussions on the SDGs and future debates about development agendas in 2030. AU's Agenda 2063 illustrates Africa's agency in proposing development visions. It constitutes a compass for the continent and perhaps a more realistic vision for the world’s development in the debates ahead for the post-2030 development agenda.