Borders are one of the universal traits that countries share in common. Although the formation of borders in Africa is contentious, the protection of states’ territorial sovereignty at an international, regional and domestic level has become the subject of much discussion over the years.
Boundaries have had a considerable political, social and strategic impact on African states.
The discussion of borders is an interdisciplinary one that examines the far-reaching impacts that it has as it shapes and informs the cultural, economic, environmental and social character of a people and, as such, the nation-state. Borders and borderlands in Africa have become spaces where the nexus of security, development, crime, conflict and politics often interface and collide.
