​The African Journal of Bioethics (AJB) invites original scholarly submissions for a special issue conceived as a deliberate intellectual intervention — advancing African ethical thought as a foundation for bioethics scholarship and practice, in ways that are both conceptually rigorous and grounded in lived realities.

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Bioethics in Africa continues to operate within structures of knowledge production shaped predominantly by institutions and traditions of the Global North. These structures often marginalise African moral philosophies, indigenous knowledge systems, and locally grounded ethical frameworks. This special issue invites scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and communities to critically examine these dynamics and to advance contextually grounded, analytically rigorous ethical frameworks.

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The issue aligns with AJB's founding mission: "to publish rigorous, interdisciplinary bioethics scholarship that speaks directly to African contexts and informs ethical policy and practice across the continent. This special issue aims to contribute to a body of scholarship that is analytically robust, contextually grounded, and generative of new directions for bioethics in Africa and beyond."

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Aims and Scope

This special issue aims to:

• Both critically examine and advance understanding of epistemic justice and knowledge hierarchies in bioethics and global health research in Africa

• Centre African ethical traditions, lived experiences, and normative frameworks in bioethical analysis

• Advance decolonial approaches to research ethics, health systems governance, bioethics education, and emerging technologies

• Foster dialogue between scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and communities engaged in bioethics in Africa

• Produce scholarship that is intellectually rigorous, contextually grounded, and practically consequential for African health and research governance​

 

Indicative Themes

 

Submissions may address, but are not limited to, the following themes, organised across three domains:

1. Knowledge Systems and Epistemic Justice

• Epistemic justice and African knowledge systems - African moral philosophies, indigenous ethics, and community-based knowledge as foundational resources for bioethics, examined on their own terms and in relation to global frameworks.

• Decolonising bioethics education and capacity - Curriculum reform, pedagogical innovation, and capacity-building approaches that foreground African perspectives and ethical priorities.

 

2. Governance, Power, and Research Ethics

• Power, inequity, and global health research - Ethical analyses of funding structures, research partnerships, authorship practices, data ownership, benefit sharing, and extractive research dynamics.

• Decolonising research ethics and ethics review - Critical perspectives on IRBs, national ethics committees, community engagement, and context-sensitive ethical oversight.

 

3. Applied Domains

• Healthcare systems, priority setting, and resource allocation - Ethical challenges related to justice, equity, and decision-making within constrained health systems in African settings.

• Decolonising AI and digital health in Africa - Ethical implications of digital health tools, artificial intelligence, data governance, and digital infrastructures — including bias, exclusion, and digital colonialism.

• Ethics of global health emergencies - Ethical issues in epidemics, pandemics, and humanitarian crises, including emergency research, public health interventions, solidarity, and accountability.