Impact of external powers on land governance in Africa: critical junctures and the search for social justice

Land governance in much of Africa remains rooted in inherited colonial structures, and African governments have yet to develop a pathway toward social justice amidst ongoing global neoliberal influences. The paper sought to identify and critically analyse how historical and ongoing critical junctures have created opportunities for land reclamation and social justice in Africa. Specific critical junctures analysed in the paper include the Cold War era, structural adjustment programmes (SAPs), land grabbing under globalisation, the establishment of foreign military bases in Africa, the transition to multiparty democracy, post-conflict reconstruction periods, the establishment of Pan-African institutions and frameworks, and digital land governance reforms. The paper employs an integrative review approach to examine these critical junctures and the opportunities they have provided to African governments over time. Findings from the identified critical junctures show that geopolitical dynamics, combined with local elitism and entrenched cultures of patronage politics, influence ownership, access, and control over land in Africa. The paper observes that Western hegemonic forces still retain significant influence over the direction of land governance, which explains why most of the critical junctures that presented opportunities for transforming the legacies of skewed post-independence land ownership patterns were not fully utilised or partially utilised.