Decolonizing Borders: Rethinking the Berlin Conference’s impact through Pan-African Unity and Regional Integration Frameworks

Mwansa Claude Kimpinde ORCID iD 

Issue: Vol. 7 No.5  2026 Article 14 pp.1351 – 1361
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20267514 Published online 26th June 2026

© 2026 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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The 1884–85 Berlin Conference established arbitrary colonial borders that continue to shape Africa’s contemporary geopolitical challenges. This paper reframes the Berlin Conference not merely as a historical artifact, but as an ongoing structural problem requiring active mitigation through Pan-African unity and regional integration. Drawing on postcolonial theory, international relations, and African political economy, the study examines how the African Union (AU), the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and Regional Economic Communities (RECs) function as vehicles for border decolonization. Through policy analysis and scenario modelling, the paper explores juridical reforms and cross-border governance innovations that challenge colonial spatial legacies. Findings demonstrate that while complete border reconfiguration remains politically unfeasible, functional integration through economic cooperation, freedom of movement protocols, and harmonized legal frameworks offers pragmatic decolonization pathways. This paper makes a twofold contribution to scholarship: first, it bridges postcolonial theory and integration studies by operationalizing decolonization as a measurable policy outcome rather than an abstract ideal. Second, it advances scenario-based frameworks for evaluating border governance innovations, offering scholars and policymakers a replicable analytical toolkit for assessing Pan-African integration trajectories. The paper thus repositions regional integration as simultaneously an economic imperative and an act of epistemic and political decolonization.

Keywords: Berlin Conference, Decolonization, Pan-Africanism, Regional Integration, African Union, AfCFTA, Border Politics, Postcolonial Theory

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Dr. Mwansa Claude Kimpinde is a scholar-practitioner integrating practical theology, pastoral care, and counselling mental health. He holds a PhD in Practical Theology (Pastoral Care and Counselling) from the University of Pretoria and combines academic rigor with extensive pastoral experience. Specializing in adolescent depression, he applies theological insight, mindfulness, and evidence-based strategies within pastoral settings and the interplay between Western understandings of depression and African perspectives. A former minister in the Southern Africa Methodist Church, he now serves as a Presbyter in the Methodist Church of Great Britain and has been a research fellow at the University of the Free State and a research associate at the University of Pretoria and Wesley House, Cambridge. His qualifications include an MA in Theology, Practical Theology, a BA Honours in Practical Theology, a BTh and diplomas in Practical Theology, banking, insurance, and accounting, reflecting a multidisciplinary approach. His international academic background informs clear, empathetic writing and a robust commitment to holistic, justice-oriented mental health care that integrates spiritual, psychological, and communal resources.

Kimpinde, Mwansa Claude. “Decolonizing Borders: Rethinking the Berlin Conference’s Impact through Pan-African Unity and Regional Integration Frameworks.” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 7, no.5 (2026): 1351 – 1361 https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20267514

© 2026 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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