Providing a critical reading of Pope Benedict’s Caritas in veritate from an African perspective, the note examines several key issues in the encyclical to determine their relevance to the situation of development and underdevelopment in Africa. The note also points out some omissions and troubling situations regarding the role of women in development and the contribution of religion to development, and calls for a careful nuancing of the theological and philosophical underpinnings of the encyclical.