…represent a significant step forward, in many respects, and a disappointment in some other respects. This is often the way in which that vast continent encounters international law and policy.

For example, most Africans (and non-Africans too) will find SDG1, which aims in part to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030 (in 15 years) – “for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day” – to be quite heartening and significant. The almost radical leap forward will be the turn toward ending rather than just ameliorating poverty – however limited the relevant definition.