This handbook advances an interdisciplinary framework for understanding Africa’s resource endowments—human, natural, ideological, theological, and philanthropic—and their synergistic roles in sustainable development. Integrating perspectives from political economy, development studies, anthropology, theology, philosophy, geography, law, and public policy, it interrogates prevailing extractivist paradigms and proposes analytically rigorous alternatives. Chapters combine comparative case studies, mixed-methods analyses, and critical theory to examine institutional dynamics, governance architectures, value chains, civic and faith-based mobilizations, and Africa’s engagements with external actors. By mapping the co-production of resources and development outcomes, the volume offers methodological depth and policy-relevant insights. It will appeal to scholars, advanced students and policymakers in African studies, Development Studies, Economics, and Political Science.

Ezra Chitando is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe, and Extraordinary Professor at the Desmond Tutu Centre for Religion and Social Justice, University of Western Cape, South Africa. His co-edited works include The Palgrave Handbook of Ubuntu, Inequality and Sustainable Development (2024).

Angela Zivo Gapa is an associate professor of international relations at California State University, Chico. Her research focuses on the nexus between resources and politics, specifically, on the sources of political and economic variation among resource rich countries. Her publications include The Politics of New African Resource Discoveries in the Post-Curse Era (2024).

Obert Bernard Mlambo teaches Classics at Rhodes University. A former Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung and the Global South Studies Center of the University of Cologne, Germany, He has published, Land Expropriation in Ancient Rome and Contemporary Zimbabwe: (Bloomsbury 2022) and co-edited, The Palgrave Handbook of Violence in Africa (2024).

Anna Chitando is Associate Professor at the Zimbabwe Open University. She holds a Doctor of Literature and Philosophy in English. Her research interests include African women and development, African literature, children's literature, as well as women and peacebuilding. Her publications include, the Routledge Handbook of Contemporary African Women (2024).