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Within the last decade, there has been a transformation or what appears to be a “silent revolution” at the regional space in Africa. The African Union and the regional economic communities have become major actors in the development process of formulating and harmonizing regional agenda by designing regional norms, standards, and processes in the economic, political, and social spheres. This process has also evoked new problems and challenges in Africa. This development at the regional level led by the African Union requires on-hand intellectual interrogation and critique from seasoned African scholars who interact with and are abreast of those developments. This book is a major contribution in that regard.
We would like to thank Abdalla Bujra who facilitated the initial conference in Addis Ababa, which was jointly organized by CODESRIA and DPMF, from where the idea of this book originated, and who constantly urged us to complete the manuscript and share the knowledge therein with the general public. Our editors and publisher, Cambria Press, deserve our commendation for the thoroughness, diligence, and dedication with which they handled the manuscript. Special thanks go to the director of Cambria Press, Toni Tan, and her colleagues, Sharon Berger and Nicole Pfeifer, who performed excellently in the publication of this book.
Finally, we would like to thank our families who have constantly endured our long periods from home to actualize this and many other pan-African projects. We love and thank you.
Needless to say that the responsibility for possible errors or omissions in the individual chapters remains that of the authors and possibly their interpretation of the social reality they live and engage in, in complex and sometimes contradictory encounters.
Said Adejumobi and Adebayo Olukoshi Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and Dakar, Senegal