This important book provides a comprehensive analysis of good-fit and home-grown approaches for advancing business and human rights norms across Africa. It explores the latest developments in law, regulations, policies, and governance structures across the continent, focusing on key legal innovations in response to human rights impacts of business operations and activities.

This book examines the contemporary and contentious question of the critical connections between business and human rights, and the implementation of socially responsible norms in developing countries, with particular reference to Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. Business enterprises and transnational corporate actors operate in a complex global environment, especially when operating in high risks sectors such as oil and gas, mining, construction, banking, and health care amongst others. Understanding human rights responsibilities, impacts, and socially responsible behaviour for companies is therefore an essential component of corporate risk management in our current world. The release of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, an instrument consisting of 31 principles on this issue, has further underscored the emergence of a rapidly developing set of international law norms on human rights responsibilities of businesses and transnational corporations. It has also shaped the discourse on corporate accountability for human rights. In addition to minimizing litigation, financial and reputational risks, understanding and demonstrating corporate respect for human rights is vital to building a culture of trust and integrity amongst local communities, investors, and shareholders. While Africa has been at the receiving end of deleterious activities of corporate actors, it has failed to address corporate impunity and human rights violations by non-state actors. Questions abound revolving around the underpinnings of a corporate responsibility to respect human rights, that is, how non-western and particularly African conceptions of respect may help develop a beyond do no net harm approach to respect; policy discourses on human rights due diligence, human rights impact assessment; mandating corporate respect for human rights in both domestic and international law. This book examines, clarifies, and unpacks the guiding principles of a rights-based approach to development and social inclusion. It offers an excellent exposition of regulatory capacity, institutional efficacy, and democratic legitimacy of governance institutions that shape development including a comprehensive analysis of how states are shaping business and human rights discourses locally to develop a critical understanding of identified issues by exploring the latest theories through comparative lenses.

The first of its kind, this comprehensive interdisciplinary textbook in business and human rights coherently incorporates ethical, legal and managerial perspectives. This path-breaking textbook will be a valuable introductory resource for students, instructors and researchers in business, public policy and law schools.

An innovative textbook setting out a systematic approach to business and human rights.

Explores the conceptual and legal underpinnings of global governance approaches to business and human rights, with an emphasis on the UN Guiding Principles.

This authoritative Research Handbook brings together leading international scholars and practitioners to provide in-depth analysis of some of the most hotly debated topics and issues concerning the interface of human rights and business. Offering critical insights on prominent strands of research within the field of business and human rights, this comprehensive Research Handbook examines key challenges and potential solutions in the field.

The aim of this reference work is to make African human rights law accessible to all those involved in or interested in human rights law on the continent in order to strengthen its impact. Primary documents are introduced and reproduced and presented in a coherent framework. The main institutions - public and private - dealing with human rights in Africa are identified and discussed. Comprehensive overviews of the international human rights legal regimes applicable to Africa, as well as country reports are provided. This book tries to contribute towards documenting, systemising and anchoring the African human rights system. The print edition is available as a set of two volumes (9789004138810).