Journal of African Studies and Sustainable Development

This paper explores the contemporary patterns of resource extraction and environmental injustice in Africa as direct continuations of colonial frameworks. The problem persists as multinational corporations and state elites perpetuate colonial logics of dispossession, resulting in impoverished communities and ecological degradation. From a philosophical standpoint, this study interrogates the ethical, ontological, and epistemological dimensions of this crisis. Methodologically, it employs critical hermeneutics, drawing on decolonial thought, African philosophy, and environmental ethics to analyze how inherited colonial structures continue to dictate extractive practices. The core contention is that Africa's ecological challenges are not merely economic or political but are fundamentally philosophical, rooted in distorted human-nature relationships and colonial knowledge systems. Consequently, the paper advocates for dismantling these continuities by centering indigenous African ecological ethos. It proposes a reimagined development paradigm grounded in African metaphysics of land, community, and a theory of ecological justice to forge a philosophically sound foundation for sustainable and just resource governance.

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