But as a professor of history, it is hard for me to agree that we have ever had our birth. Finally, African Renaissance fails to identify the forces that will propel the continent from its Middle Ages. It is more of a vision than a coherent concept. It is composed of one part despair and two parts hope. Despite the setbacks, there can be little doubt that Africa is better off today than it was a couple of years ago.
Growth is up, repression is down.
Both politically and economically the continent is muddling in the right direction. Africa's Renaissance men come from military backgrounds, are converts from socialism and seek African solutions for African problems. Presumably, this is the raison d'etre of the Organisation of African Unity. But the OAU has proved an impotent organization at best. To protect the despots' fiefdoms the OAU stoutly defends colonial borders, saddling Africa with unmanageable states like Congo, Nigeria or Sudan, that straddle ethnic and religious faultlines.