Underdevelopment and Economic Theory of Growth: Case for Infant Industry Promotion

The article reviews the literature on economic development, critiques neoliberal economic theories, and advances the theory of infant industry promotion as an alternative model for development in Africa. The essay argues that for developing countries to catch up to developed countries requires contextualizing development theory, applying selective economic policies to industries where productive capacities can be developed, and localizing the policy lessons to develop the productive abilities of local industries. The role of state in development and implementation of protective measures such as tariffs, import bans on key raw materials, and rebates on industrial inputs is discussed. To escape the Resource Curse, African states will have to develop an alternative source of employment, an industrial base, and strengthen the productive powers of infant industries if those industries are to survive fierce international competition. To be durable in the African context, economic policy must reflect local conditions, vary from one historical context to the next, use readily available resources, and adequately respond to local problems

Land Grab and Institutional Legacy of Colonialism: The Case of Sudan

Over last decade Africa has experienced an unprecedented amounts of land being concessioned, leased or sold to business, corporations or foreign sovereign capital. The land question (who can acquire or have access to land) and the political question (who belongs in the political community) are connected to the citizenship question. These questions are among the most politicized in Africa. This article answers the following questions: Who benefits from the ‘land grabs’? And what can a critical analysis of the ‘land grabs’ tell us about the contemporary politics of development? The first section of this article discusses and provides the intellectual background that informs today’s land rush. The second section discusses the competing actors involved in the land grab, winners and victims. I argue that the majority of victims of land dispossession in the African context are peasants, pastoralists, nomadic, and trans-boundary communities, whose land management system is based on customary land tenure

South Sudan and the East African community: common market, citizenship, and political federation

This article analyses South Sudan’s political and economic challenges as it seeks to become a member of the East African Community (EAC). The first section presents a brief profile of South Sudan, its development challenges, the land tenure system and legal framework governing access to and disposal of land. The second section presents an exposition on the challenges facing the EAC as it seeks to build a monetary union and a political federation. The article critically examines the EAC protocol regarding the monetary union, political federation, the land tenure system in East Africa and its plan for a common citizenship. It reviews and analyses EAC policies such as the elimination of trade barriers such as tariff, non-tariff and other technical barriers, harmonisation of labour policies, programmes, legislation, and social services throughout members’ states. The article concludes that the biggest challenge facing the EAC is how to protect social democracy, while balancing rights with social justice, market fundamentalism with social equity and offers preliminary recommendations

Nation and state building in south Sudan: violence, development, and democracy

This paper contributes to the ongoing debate about nation- and state-building projects in Africa by focusing on the case of South Sudan. I discuss South Sudan's political challenges by analysing the factors that fuel the problem of violence. This study situates the problem within the socio-historical context of state formation. In the first section, I quantify the determinants of violence, present frequencies and percentage distribution of incidents resulting in documented deaths, and tabulate the ratio of person(s) killed to number of incidents in the states most affected by violence. I exposit on the legal dualism of an individual right to land running parallel to communal land ownership, and the tension that exists between the two systems and its relationship to fuelling violence over access to land. I then argue that South Sudan must reconcile differences between private, public, state ownership of land (freehold/leasehold land tenure) and communal land ownership. Lastly, I provide a discussion on the New Sudan Framework (NSF), presented as one alternative model for nation building in South Sudan. I conclude the study with a call for a better understanding of the issues that drive violence, and enumerate a number of tentative reforms that may bring peace to a war-torn South Sudan and enable it to build a peaceful society for its citizens

Sudan and South Sudan: identity, citizenship, and democracy in plural societies

This article discusses the institutional legacy of colonialism and how that has affected citizenship in Sudan and South Sudan. It argues that the colonial project made a legal distinction, especially in how citizenship was defined. It outlines problems facing Sudan and South Sudan and the challenges in managing a diverse population. It argues that a failure to build a democratic polity by resorting to ethnic federalism will divide the country along ethnic lines and prevent the emergence of a truly inclusive nation. Finally, the article discusses an alternative solution to the political crisis facing both Sudan and South Sudan, namely citizenship and the establishment of an inclusive framework to manage diverse populations within a unified nation. The article concludes with a discussion of the New Sudan Framework by situating it within the larger debate on democratic nation-building while also discussing its alignment with regional and international law