SOAS Research Online

Abstract

Despite the settled obligations on states to protect rights under international human rights principles, many African states either lack the capacity or fear the competitive consequences of effectively prohibiting corporate-related human rights abuses. Within the context of African human rights systems, this chapter appraises the extent to which the state duty to protect individuals from corporate-related human rights abuses as elaborated by the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights are implemented on the continent. It investigates measures adopted by few individual African states as well as the roles of the African Union to strengthen regionally coordinated implementation. Among other gaps, the chapter identified the widespread absence of specifically worded, legally binding obligation on corporations to fulfill human rights within African states’ corporate law systems. It recommends policy and legislative initiatives to strengthen implementation of the state duty across the continent.