ABSTRACT
Some people maintain that Africa cannot unite because it lacks the ingredients necessary for unity including a common race, culture and language. Yet, the forces that unite Africa greatly outweigh the forces that divide it. In practical terms, this deep rooted unity has been demonstrated in the development of Pan-Africanism and, more recently, in the projection of what has been called the African personality in world affairs. This paper generally focuses upon discerning the best way to promote unity and development in Africa, as well as on the correct path for achieving economic development in the continent. Perhaps no condition better depicts the state of Africa’s current development than the commonality of poverty in Africa. Despite these bleak circumstances, Africans welcomed the new millennium with enthusiasm and a new found determination to tackle the continent’s long standing developmental burden. This paper recommends that Africans be mindful that in a world that is rapidly globalizing, enormous challenges face the continent’s development and that power, might, wealth and technology determine ‘who gets what, and when and how’ in the world. For Africa to get out of its low-level economic trap and lay the foundation for significant progress in economic decolonization, new economic strategies need to be formulated and rigorously pursued at all levels.
