Quite a number of governments in Africa seem to deny that minorities have the potential to socio-economic empowerment. The paradox is, however, the majority of Africa's population still lead life in traditional formations. Minority communities had existed for millennia before the advent of the modern state practicing self-empowerment and sustaining their communities. This had been the rule of the game in Africa. In this sense, the advent of colonization and the prevalence of neo-colonialism vowed to change the notion and meaning of empowerment. As a result, the powers that be imprisoned by the dominant discourse on development inherited from colonial and neo-colonial constructs failed to co-exist with traditional formations as it has been bent on replacing traditional formations with the market economy. This in turn led to the creation of incompatibility, if not mutually exclusiveness, between traditional formations and the market. As this is the reality in a great many countries in the South, governments in Africa, by and large, went even further by opting to destroy traditional systems such as pastoralism and hunting-gathering as witnessed in Tanzania, Kenya, Botswana and Ethiopia. According to the dominant discourse, i.e. the market, traditional formations such as pastoralism and hunting-gathering are obstacles to development and should be renounced. The paradox is: which African country has ever progressed towards empowering society at large on the tracks of social-development a la the UN Social-Development Goals? On the contrary, after more than 60 years of independence, in many African countries, societies live on the margins of extinction. Had it not been for the forceful intrusion of the colonial and neocolonial project, traditional formations have by contrast sustained their viable systems for millennia. Thus, the big question is: why should they abandon their ways of life for the market when the market system they are forced to embrace have failed to stand on its feet? On the contrary, studies unambiguously attest to the fact that traditional systems such as pastoralism have the potential to contribute to national economies. In some countries, the potential of traditional livelihood systems is high not only in contributing to but also in generating national development. A 1997 study by the World Initiative for Sustainable Pastoralism indicates that the pastoral livestock production system has big potential to contribute to the national economies of five countries in the Horn of Africa. It is a paradox of immense