This issue explores how questions of human dignity, justice and development are approached in contemporary Africa. The contributions examine the unfulfilled promises of independence, the search for a sustainable and relevant African philosophy of development, and the struggle for equitable access to reproductive health. They further engage the dialogue between Kantian human dignity and Ubuntu/hunhu, and interrogate the political and economic implications of prophetism. In general, the journal issue illuminates the ethical, social, political and religious dynamics that shape democratic renewal and human flourishing on the continent.