Ovett Nwosimiri

This chapter examines how AfricanAfricanethicsAfrican ethics can help in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGsSDGs) in AfricaAfrica. I argue that the recognitionrecognition and integrationintegration of African ethicsAfrican ethics together with the SDGs will help Africa move to a sustainable trajectory. Drawing upon insights from Thaddeus Metz’s discussion on African ethicsAfrican ethics, I reflect on how SDGs can be achievedachieved in Africa if it integrates African ethicsAfrican ethics—welfare-basedwelfare-based and communitycommunity-basedcommunity-basedAfrican ethicsAfrican ethics.

The word ‘development’ can mean different things to different people. It is one of the most elusive concepts to define, alongside the concept of modernization. Often and perhaps due to its elusive nature, people tend to rely on an economic definition of development where definite parameters and indices can be used to assess and determine levels of development ‘objectively’. Thus, a nation’s development is measured in terms of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Gross National Income (GNI), Per-Capita Income and Foreign Exchange Reserves. But does the attainment of these economic parameters really translate into development qua development? Historical and current development predicaments of many sub-Saharan African nation points to a negative response to the question. How, then, do we define or approach development that encompasses all the relevant development factors? Is there anything like an ideal definition of development at all or do we need to contextualize what development should mean for each society, culture, or nation? What does development ethics in an African context look or should like? This chapter explores these questions at an introductory level.

This book offers fresh academic insights, reflections, questions, issues, and approaches to development ethics, taking into account, African values and ethics. Development ethics is an area of applied ethics that examines the moral issues involved in global, social, and economic transformation. While it is a relatively new discipline, there have been numerous scholarly publications on it from Western perspectives. However, only a few studies that focused on development ethics from the African perspective. To address this gap, the book seeks to answer critical questions such as "What does development mean to Africans?", "How can we measure development?", "Who gets to decide?", and "What constitutes just development in Africa?" With contributions from African scholars from diverse backgrounds, the book covers various development themes such as Theories and approaches to development ethics in Africa, Environmental Ethics and African Development, Ethics, Politics and African Development, Migration and African development, Gender, Ethics and Socio-economic Development in Africa, Education, Ethics and African development. It is an essential resource for researchers, lecturers, and students interested in political philosophy and African culture studies.

Environmental pollution and climate change have been considered the main environmental challenges affecting the world’s ecosystem, including that of South Africa. They cause poverty, land degradation, and health hazards. One of the leading causes and contributing factors of environmental pollution and climate change is carbon emissions into the atmosphere. As a way to curb these emissions, Carbon tax policy has been introduced in various countries, including South Africa. In 2019, a Carbon tax was introduced to assist South Africa in delivering on the commitments made in the Paris Agreement in 2015. If the policy is effectively applied, it will raise revenues while reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Before and after introducing the Carbon tax policy in South Africa, there has been debate and discussion on its impact on the environment, economy, and society. Based on the debate and discussion, it has been observed that more attention is paid to the economic implications and benefits of the tax on South Africa than the ethical implications. Thus, this paper aims to contribute to the ongoing debate and discussion by ethically evaluating the Carbon tax policy in South Africa.

Ethnicity and racial identity formation are elements of our social world. In recent years, there has been numerous works on ethnicity and race. Both concepts are controversial in different disciplines. The controversies around these concepts have been heated up by scholars who have devoted their time to the discourse of ethnicity and race, and to understand the ascription of both concepts. Ethnicity and race have been causes of conflict, prejudice and discrimination among various ethnic and racial groups around the world. Thus, this paper is an attempt to discuss and critically reflect about race, ethnicity and a post-racial/ethnic future in line with Emmanuel Chukwudi Eze’s idea of the post-racial future.

An essential part of the concept of knowledge is the belief that the basic premises for knowledge must be justified. This means that for a knowledgeclaim to be true, there is a need for its justification. In African epistemology, the justification of beliefs and epistemic claims has mostly been considered from an externalist perspective such that justification appears to be one dimensional. Since epistemic claims can be justified using either the internalist or externalist perspective, this paper aims at showing that there are internalism and externalism in African epistemology and that Ifá divination system embodies both the internalist and externalist basis of justification in African epistemology. Keywords: Internalism, Externalism, African Epistemology, divination, Justification.

This paper presents a review of articles on cultural, ethical, and religious perspectives on environmental preservation. Globally, the negative effects of the current environmental crisis on people's lives and livelihoods cannot be disputed. The mismanagement of the environment has resulted in extreme climate changes currently faced by the world. The situation has prompted environmentalists, governments, and other stakeholders to seek plausible ways of mitigating and preserving the environment for current and future generations. Through a review of some existing literature, this paper affirms the important role that culture, ethics, and religion play in environmental preservation strategies.

The idea of change seems to be a vital part of human life and culture. With the concept of change, people, communities, and cultural practices have significantly evolved. Change has transformed some communities, traditions, cultural values and practices, communication methods, education, art, and literature. Thus, in this paper, I focus on the idea of change, African cultural practices, and the African sense of community. I aim to show how the concept of change has meddled with African cultural practices and the African sense of community. I intend to achieve this by using the Ifá divination system, the idea of storytelling, and homosexuality or the LGBTIQA+1 people as examples.

The idea of change seems to be a vital part of human life and culture. With the concept of change, people, communities, and cultural practices have significantly evolved. Change has transformed some communities, traditions, cultural values and practices, communication methods, education, art, and literature. Thus, in this paper, I focus on the idea of change, African cultural practices, and the African sense of community. I aim to show how the concept of change has meddled with African cultural practices and the African sense of community. I intend to achieve this by using the Ifá divination system, the idea of storytelling, and homosexuality or the LGBTIQA+1 people as examples.

If we ask ourselves the question, how does traditional healers, priests and priestesses know what they know? One of the ideas, amongst many, that become evident is the fact that even if they know enough to heal or help people, they are not necessarily available anytime and anywhere for anyone who seeks their help. Though the detailed procedures of some traditional healers are known to them alone, and difficult to share sometimes, it will be good for some of these procedures to be readily available to people. In recent times, modern technology has completely transformed societies and proved its vitality and viability in information sharing and acquisition processes. With the aid of modern technology, people and cultures have evolved greatly. Modern technology has allowed the delivery of information in places and times that were out of reach before. Based on this, the chapter argues that aspects of African cultural practices, like traditional healer’s consultation processes, can possibly use technology to provide and deliver more reliable information to people in need. Hence, there is a need to combine some cultural practices with modern technology to make information readily available to people so that they can use it when necessary.

The SARS-COVID-2 virus that causes the Coronavirus has been having a challenging and devastating impact on finances and jobs worldwide. More specifically, in South Africa, the COVID-19 pandemic is having a crippling effect on jobs. Companies and businesses are struggling to operate and retain workers as revenue streams are drying up. Owners of companies and businesses have been forced to make difficult decisions. An example is the retrenchment of workers by some organizations because of the financial fall-out due to the coronavirus pandemic. Also, before the pandemic, South Africa had unemployment challenges, economic downgrading, and high levels of inequality. These challenges bring to mind what the employment method and strategy will look like during the -COVID-19. In view of these challenges, one question that comes to mind is: given the COVID-19 pandemic and the fact that the job losses affected people of all races, should the policies of affirmative action and preferential hiring still be considered in South Africa? Thus, this paper is a philosophical reflection on COVID-19, job losses, affirmative action, and preferential hiring in South Africa. In reflecting on the above, this paper aims to show that affirmative action and preferential hiring should not be considered in South Africa during the -COVID-19. I conclude that in the face of this tragedy, for the sustainability of the economy, everyone needs to work together to re-establish and reconstruct the country and build an inclusive economy.

The SARS-COVID-2 virus that causes the Coronavirus has been having a challenging and devastating impact on finances and jobs worldwide. More specifically, in South Africa, the COVID-19 pandemic is having a crippling effect on jobs. Companies and businesses are struggling to operate and retain workers as revenue streams are drying up. Owners of companies and businesses have been forced to make difficult decisions. An example is the retrenchment of workers by some organizations because of the financial fall-out due to the coronavirus pandemic. Also, before the pandemic, South Africa had unemployment challenges, economic downgrading, and high levels of inequality. These challenges bring to mind what the employment method and strategy will look like during the -COVID-19. In view of these challenges, one question that comes to mind is: given the COVID-19pandemic and the fact that the job losses affected people of all races, should the policies of affirmative action and preferential hiring still be considered in South Africa? Thus, this paper is a philosophical reflection on COVID-19, job losses, affirmative action, and preferential hiring in South Africa. In reflecting on the above, this paper aims to show that affirmative action and preferential hiring should not be considered in South Africa during the -COVID-19. I conclude that in the face of this tragedy, for the sustainability of the economy, everyone needs to work together to re-establish and reconstruct the country and build an inclusive economy. Keywords: Affirmative action, COVID-19 pandemic, Job losses, Preferential hiring, South Africa

Epistemic decolonization has taken centre stage in academia and everyday life. Epistemic decolonization is a call to dismantle the Western way of thinking and its self-arrogated hegemonic authority. It is also a call to re-centre the knowledge enterprise in Africa from a western-centric orientation to an African-centric one to accommodate African epistemic formations. In this paper, I intend to contribute to the discussions of epistemic decolonization by showing that engaging in African epistemology is a form of epistemic decolonization. My argument is that we are recalibrating the knowledge enterprise when we go outside of the western episteme to engage with knowledge in other traditions, such as African epistemology.

Ethnicity and racial identity formation are elements of our social world. In recent years, there has been numerous works on ethnicity and race. Both concepts are controversial in different disciplines. The controversies around these concepts have been heated up by scholars who have devoted their time to the discourse of ethnicity and race, and to understand the ascription of both concepts. Ethnicity and race have been causes of conflict, prejudice and discrimination among various ethnic and racial groups around the world. Thus, this paper is an attempt to discuss and critically reflect about race, ethnicity and a post-racial/ethnic future in line with Emmanuel Chukwudi Eze’s idea of the post-racial future.