The Journal of African Political Economy & Development (JAPED) is one of the journals of the African Finance and Economics Consult (AFEC). JAPED is an inter-disciplinary journal, with a focus on Africa and its many entanglements. It is devoted to the study of contemporary African politics and its society. By contemporary Africa, we mean the imperialized Africa at the beginning of the 20th century. Defined broadly to include the comparative study of politics, current political history, political economy of development, democratization, social movements, institutions, and the African Diaspora. In particular, the journal aims to promote rigorous scholarship that asks difficult but historically relevant questions ‘on the post-colony.’ It aims to provide some alternative explanation for gaining a deeper understanding of a problematized Africa in all its facets. Topics to be covered include Africa’s many development trajectories, challenges of the nation-state, peasant economies, conflict, social, economic and cultural developments, democratic deepening, democratic consolidation, governance (local and corporate governance), political culture, natural resources, environmental governance, energy governance, ownership of resources and service delivery, among others. Furthermore, JAPED aims to encourage debate on theoretical viewpoints, especially on the experimentation of development blueprints that are of interest to the policy community and development experts.