‘Africa on its own’: The African Organisational Experiment in the Resolution of African Based Conflicts

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume IV, Issue V, May 2020 | ISSN 2454–6186

‘Africa on its own’: The African Organisational Experiment in the Resolution of African Based Conflicts

Ernest DZELAMONYUY¹, Canute A. NGWA^2
1(PhD, History), University of Bamenda, Cameroon
²Associate Professor of History, University of Bamenda, Cameroon

Abstract:-The African continent have been conflict prone since the 1960s when most of the countries in the continent attained independence. These conflicts necessitated the involvement of various international and sub-regional organisations. This paper evaluates the typology and causes of conflicts in Africa as well as the efforts of the proximate groupings towards their resolution. The paper is divided into three parts. Part one deals with the typology and causes of conflicts in Africa. Part two handles the efforts made by African based organisations in resolving the identified African based conflicts while the third part dwells on the problems encountered in such efforts. The paper argues that, in line with the principle of subsidiarity, African sub-regional organisations are in a better position to take the lead in the resolution of African based conflicts while the efforts extraneous to the continent only come in to complement such efforts indigenous to the continent in view of achieving the desired results. This was done through the use of primary and secondary sources that were carefully examined and analysed to arrive at the findings.

Keywords: Typology, Conflict, Spill over, Subsidiarity, Sub-regional Organisations, Extraneous

I. INTRODUCTION

The African continent has been conflicts prone since independence. An effective response to these conflicts requires agreement on and understanding of its typology and causes. These conflicts necessitated the involvement of sub-regional groupings and the African Union towards their resolution. Past responses to conflicts have often failed to understand the context within which the conflicts operated or to address its causes. Fragile and conflict affected states present unique and complex challenges to achieving effective development. While the range of issues can vary depending on the country or region of fragility, some key issues are common to all of them. These include chronic poverty; government and state structures lacking the capacity or will to provide public safety, security and basic services to the population; low levels of state accountability to citizens; challenges relating to natural resource management; a private sector which may be largely informal and opportunistic;

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