Previous Issues | AfSol Journal

Energy, Vulnerability and Human Security in Zambia: A Capability Approach to an Inclusive Energy Transition

Over Zambia is one of the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa facing energy challenges due to climate vulnerability caused by the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The study uses Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum's Capability Approach to analyse the vulnerabilities resulting from Zambia's quest for energy transition. This theoretical framework is critical to understanding the challenges in ensuring an inclusive energy transition process in the country. The methodology and data were mainly from secondary sources. The main argument in this article is that although Zambia has embarked on an energy transition, it is important to consider key human security vulnerabilities in this process. The article shows that Zambia's electricity generation capacity has continued to dwindle primarily due to a decrease in hydro generation, which is highly dependent on rainfall. The study also shows that the Zambian government has devised several strategies and policies aimed at energy transitioning to alleviate the problem. These strategies and policies include promoting non-renewable energy sources like coal, oil, and natural gas to renewable and sustainable energy sources like solar. However, the study shows that while Zambia's energy transition offers long-term benefits, it poses immediate and significant security challenges for the country. These include economic disruptions, infrastructure vulnerabilities, environmental conflicts and policy and regulatory challenges. This article contributes to the ongoing discourse regarding the human security challenges and opportunities for energy transition in Global South countries.

Questioning Separatism in a Context of Democratic Development: The Polisario and the Ambazonian Movement in the Face of Today’s New Geopolitical Challenges

Several African states are currently being rocked by separatist or autonomist movements seeking to create independent micro-states within recognised sovereign states. These include the Movement for self-determination of Kabylie (MAK) in Algeria, the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda in Angola, the Ogaden National Liberation Front or the Tigray Liberation Movement in Ethiopia, the National Liberation Movement of Azawad (NLMA) in Mali, the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance in Senegal and so on. While some of these movements date back to the post-independence era, others are more recent, albeit fuelled by distant causes. An example of this is Morocco, a North African country and a founding member of the Arab Maghreb Union, which faces separatism and regular harassment from Polisario, a movement that has been advocating the creation of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic since 1976. A similar case study is English-speaking Cameroon, where various armed groups are calling for the creation of Ambazonia. While it is true that separatism is partly justified by the various frustrations of a population, it is also true that it represents a major risk to the stability of states. Given the current context and the issues at stake, it is almost impossible to give separatism any support. Repeated violations of human rights (rape, sexual abuse, looting, etc.), large-scale atrocities, massive destruction, violence, etc. are comparable to the methods of terrorists, and constitute a serious threat to sub-regional, regional and international peace and stability. This work is the result of the analysis of the archival, documentary and oral data collected and supplemented by neutral direct observation in the field. At the end of this reflection, four observations can be made about the Polisario and the independent movement of Ambazonia: The Polisario and the independent movement of Ambazonia have the same objective (independence); the same method of recruiting fighters (forced or voluntary recruitment among unemployed young people); the same modus operandi (use of violence), and the same approach (seeking external support to better influence geopolitical issues).

Nigerian State Response to Climate-Related Violence

In Nigeria and most parts of Africa, there is a correlation between climate change and conflict. The Lake Chad Basin and the Sahel region are clear examples. However, despite the potency of climate change as a trigger for violence being universally understood, the exact pathway or channel through which climate change results in conflict, violence, forced migration, displacement, competition for scarce resources and other related issues is not fully understood or clearly articulated in the existing policy framework in Nigeria. Although the Nigerian state has adopted measures such as the 2021 Climate Change Act, the National Climate Change Policy and the Nationally Determined Contribution under the Paris Agreement, there needs to be more clarity between the legal and institutional frameworks and the actual implementation of climate actions. There is a lack of coordination, monitoring and evaluation systems, inadequate funding, data availability, policy coherence and stakeholders engagement in addressing climate-induced conflicts and violence. As a result, this paper discusses how to effectively operationalise and monitor the Nigerian state's response to climate change and how related climate-induced conflicts can be enshrined in the policy responses and climate actions to ensure that it is inclusive, participatory, and human-rights-based. Nigeria's climate responses and policies are indicative of a positive advancement in the right direction. However, there is a need for more effective implementation, better coordination, and incorporation of climate-related security risk assessment into their climate policy.

Chronicles of African Engagement: Beyond a Dualist Reading of Foreign Intervention

Over the past two decades, the conflict management and peacebuilding (CM/PB) domain has undergone significant transformations. This has resulted in a shift from traditional Western-centric approach to a more crowded CM/PB market that is particularly evident in the African continent. However, academic discourse has evolved from evaluating the effectiveness of the liberal peace model, to scrutinising the characteristics of an alleged alternative CM/PB paradigm proposed by these rising powers. Drawing on a (neo)realist perspective, the study proposes two lines of argumentation to advance a new research agenda. Firstly, it explores the supply side of CM/PB policies by emphasising the motivations and policy choices driven primarily by strategic interests and the regime survival of intervening states. Secondly, it analyses the demand side of CM/PB by highlighting the active role of intervened states in shaping intervention strategies based on their interests and preferences. Through illustrative examples from Africa, this paper demonstrates how national interests and host states' agency intersect to shape CM/PB strategies. The article challenges simplistic categorisations of Western/liberal versus Eastern/illiberal CM/PB, and advocates for a nuanced understanding that considers the complexities of global power dynamics and national interests.

Conceptions of the COVID-19 Pandemic among Religious Leaders in Nigeria: Implications for Responses and Coping Mechanisms

This qualitative study examines the concomitant relationship between the different conceptions of the COVID-19 pandemic among religious leaders in Nigeria and its implications for their various response and coping mechanisms. The study used secondary sources such as newspapers and magazines, scholarly texts, journal articles, and the internet for content analysis and conclusion. It argues that responses to COVID-19 safety rules, lockdowns and coping measures among the religious organisations, denominations and sects in Nigeria were outcomes of their conceptions or misconceptions about the disease. It was observed that while some religious leaders and followers alike dismissed COVID-19 as a farce resulting from conspiracy theories of diseases, others accepted the existence of the pandemic. The study contends that while denial of the disease led to resistance and opposition to the directives issued by the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to curb the spread of the disease in the country, belief in the reality of the disease and its manifestation as an act of God resulted in a positive response to the directives passed to mitigate the pandemic. The study concludes that several religious leaders would not have devised credible coping mechanisms in the church services without the government’s enforcement of the lockdown.

The Consequences of COVID-19 on Human Rights and Freedoms

This qualitative desktop study relied on existing literature to gain concise knowledge of the consequences of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on fundamental human rights and freedoms in Africa. Informed by the cardinal social work principles of human rights and social justice, which have their genesis in humanitarian and democratic ideals founded on such values as dignity, equality, the study highlighted the brutalities being imposed on African nationals in their countries owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. The study proposes recommendations to remedy these while advocating for a comprehensive human rights approach, among other measures, in responding to the pandemic.

Contending Narratives on the COVID-19 Pandemic and Public Authority Governance in Nigeria

This study interrogates the contending narratives in the fight against COVID-19 and public authority governance in Nigeria. Since the outbreak of the Coronavirus in 2019 in Wuhan, China, countries worldwide have been battling against its exponential rise. In Nigeria, with many reported coronavirus cases, the government had responded by budgeting millions of dollars to curtail the spread of the disease and procure vaccines. However, Nigerians have questioned the responses of the public authority in the governance affairs of Coronavirus. Why is this the case? Literature on the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria has pointed out corruption, mismanagement, human rights abuses, poor planning, and the decay in the health sectors. With David Easton System Theory, the study generated data through documentary methods and analysed them using the narrative analytical technique. The article observes that while the COVID-19 pandemic has resurfaced the contending trajectories in the health, political and economic discourses, public authorities’ governance has continued to witness cycles of legitimacy crises. The study suggests that no amount of audio pledged by the government can remedy the Nigerian trajectories without addressing the public authorities’ fallout with the people and strong legislations against government officials’ foreign medical tourism.

The Consequences of COVID-19 on Human Rights and Freedoms

This qualitative desktop study relied on existing literature to gain concise knowledge of the consequences of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on fundamental human rights and freedoms in Africa. Informed by the cardinal social work principles of human rights and social justice, which have their genesis in humanitarian and democratic ideals founded on such values as dignity, equality, the study highlighted the brutalities being imposed on African nationals in their countries owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. The study proposes recommendations to remedy these while advocating for a comprehensive human rights approach, among other measures, in responding to the pandemic.

Pandemics and Cross-Border Trade

This paper examines the impacts of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) on cross-border trade and its implications on trade within and amongst African countries. Intermittent outbreaks of infectious diseases have had profound and lasting effects on societies throughout history. Using desk research, the paper argues that the COVID-19 pandemic presents unprecedented public health, social and economic challenges, including affecting international trade. Measures to curb the spread of the disease shut down large swathes of the global economy leading to dramatic negative supply and demand shocks. This study argues that pandemics are inherently uncertain, necessitating flexible policies in responding to outbreaks as they develop.

Conceptions of the COVID-19 Pandemic among Religious Leaders in Nigeria: Implications for Responses and Coping Mechanisms

This qualitative study examines the concomitant relationship between the different conceptions of the COVID-19 pandemic among religious leaders in Nigeria and its implications for their various response and coping mechanisms. The study used secondary sources such as newspapers and magazines, scholarly texts, journal articles, and the internet for content analysis and conclusion. It argues that responses to COVID-19 safety rules, lockdowns and coping measures among the religious organisations, denominations and sects in Nigeria were outcomes of their conceptions or misconceptions about the disease. It was observed that while some religious leaders and followers alike dismissed COVID-19 as a farce resulting from conspiracy theories of diseases, others accepted the existence of the pandemic. The study contends that while denial of the disease led to resistance and opposition to the directives issued by the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to curb the spread of the disease in the country, belief in the reality of the disease and its manifestation as an act of God resulted in a positive response to the directives passed to mitigate the pandemic. The study concludes that several religious leaders would not have devised credible coping mechanisms in the church services without the government’s enforcement of the lockdown.