Inter-Cultural Philosophy as A Panacea to Africa’s Development Predicament: A Critical Exposition

Abstract

Africa’s development crisis has become critically worrisome to academic pundits. Among the regions of the world, Africa appears to be at  the tail of development trends. Even regions hitherto classified with Africa as the third world have left Africa to bear the toga alone. Just  as opinions differ as to the root cause of the anomaly, so do they vary with regard to the way out. While many point accusing finger at  westernization and its concomitant imperialism and urge Africa to look inwards for the panacea to her development predicament, others  insist that Africa must follow the course of West to modernize and develop. After a critical expository analysis of the situation, this write  up favours a third course which entails rejection of both total westernization (not modernization) in order to develop and the idea that  African worldview alone can lead her out of the wilderness of underdevelopment. This third course holds that only intercourse of  ideologies across cultures (Western culture not excluded) that can save the situation. This is where inter-cultural philosophy comes in.  Therefore, the solution to the problem of development in Africa can only be solved by deliberately planned and executed intercourse of  intercultural ideologies that will serve to overhaul African world-view and reposition it for 21st century world.