In Africa, the conception and approach to governance and development have very often snubbed territories and their dynamics. Indeed, centralized development management has long characterized the socio-economic planning of States. At the same time, development policies and models have often been marked by their extroverted nature, which creates a strong dependence of the continent on the rest of the world.
Today, only an opposite approach - with processes based on local dynamics - can produce development that reconciles the triple requirement of social cohesion, economic efficiency and environmental protection. In this respect, the territory certainly has an essential and irreplaceable role as a major actor in the qualitative changes expected in Africa at the political, institutional, economic, social and environmental levels.