INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARIES IN AFRICA AND THE PAN AFRICAN

Pre-Colonial African notion of boundaries were non-restrictive and fluid.Imperialist contacts with the continent in the nineteenth century produced novel regimes of boundary which ranged from spheres of influence to demarcated territories based on the European model. The imposed boundaries balkanised Africa and separated kiths and kin who now live along and astride international boundaries. Attempts to either re-adjust or abrogate these alien boundaries as envisioned by the domiciled Pan African movement were jettisoned for uti possidetis. The adopted boundary regime has been provoking and promoting series of conflicts between African states because of its restrictive and bellicose nature. The Pan African boundary vision of an amalgamated Africa collapsed largely due to fear, suspicion, ultra-nationalism, poor timing, and absence of integrative infrastructures.