International Law

This chapter focuses on the conceptualization of Africa relative to the academic discipline of International Law, which is understood as the study of the body of rules, norms and principles of action which are binding on civilized nation-states in their relationships with one another. The chapter traces the following three major trends regarding Africa’s role in the development of International Law: (1) European perspective which is dismissive of Africa’s role, (2) contributionists who emphasize Africa’s contributions to international law, and (3) critical theorists who posit that Africa is subordinated in its international relations as a legacy that is traceable to International Law. In this regard, I query whether International Law is, in the main, a set of norms, principles, understandings, protocols, agreements, etc., meant to govern the relationships among states and how it can be that there was no International Law among precolonial African states. Europeans reached an Africa that had established kingdoms and many independent self-governing nations that had relations with one another, not so different from what obtained in various parts of Europe.