Ethnicity does not always cause tension, and it is not always difficult to solve. If Africa has thousands of ethnic groups and multiple religions the most noticeable thing has to be that the vast majority of these groups do coexist peacefully. There are at most a couple of dozen different conflicts in Africa compared to these thousands of divisions. Identity might therefore be considered to be an overblown cause of conflict here.  Moreover is an ethnic divide always difficult to solve? No. If it is not a particularly deep divide then it can be sorted out through education and creating a sense of community. There also needs to be a look at the underlying problems; in most cases ethnic conflicts are not simply about attacking the other group because they are the ‘other’ instead there is something that group wants. At base then the conflict is likely to be over land, economic resources, discrimination etc. not the simple fact that they have a neighbour that is not exactly the same as them. The solution then is the same as with poverty; encouraging economic growth and ensuring good redistribution.  Finally if there is no other choice and two groups within a state are irreconcilable then there is a relatively quick, if not particularly easy, solution; partition. Simply create separate homelands for both ethnic groups.(1)  (1) Zachary, G. Pascal, ‘Africa Needs a New Map’, Foreign Policy, 28 April 2010,