ABSTRACT
The relationship between the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa is a complex one and can be examined from a number of perspectives: it may be considered on a cultural level given the intertwining of historical association, settlement and religion between populations over the ‘longue dureé’; conventionally it may be viewed within the context of colonialism and neo-imperialism set against the backdrop of Western domination and control; alternatively, the relationship may be seen in terms of patron-client states operating in an unequal differentiated economic environment highlighted by escalating oil prices and rising indebtedness; contemporaneously, it may be viewed in terms of postmodernism and heterogeneity with a mixing and blurring set of changing relationships or within the umbrella term the ‘Third World’ in order to exact a firmer understanding of the meaning of what increasingly is becoming a catch-all phrase; ultimately, the relationship may be examined within the context of a maturing alternative Islamic development agenda which intends to be established and nurtured in the countries of sub-Saharan Africa. Islamic influences in sub-Saharan Africa, then, can be defined as political, religious and economic and it is necessary to examine these factors before placing the relationship within a wider discourse.
