Abstract:
Considering the frictions and tensions about the socio-cultural and economic
development of Africa and the existence of some of tendencies and actions that
are not in favour of the continent’s advancement, the main aim of this article is
to argue for the deliberate reinstatement and retrieval of African Indigenous
Knowledge Systems (IKS). The purpose this argument which in the main is a
political position of an African cultural activist is to motivate for the use of IKS
as a tool for socio-cultural change and economic development strategies that are
vital in the era of globalisation and the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). This
is not new in that as demonstrated by situations of Japan and other Asian
countries, IKS has all the potential to enable the African continent to meet the
challenges of globalisation and chart its future. In addition, the article argues
that the deliberate re-centering of IKS has a potential of complementing the 4IR initiatives with sciences that are embedded in life and work of communities
that are majority in the world and are still depended on the natural resources
that are under threat of diminishing.
