Hekima Review No. 28 (Dec 2002)

The last eleven months of this year have given us a mixed bag of hope and despair in Africa. One conference followed the other, in or about Africa and its plight in the fast-changing world. Whatever causes are put forward for the ragbag of Africa’s hope as well as despair, one conclusion is that the reason we hold so tightly to hope is that we face so many challenges in our continent. Civil conflicts are still razing down thousands of lives daily. HIV/AIDS is ravaging the most productive segment of our population. The effects of the coup d’état in La Côte d’Ivoire are unresolved as we go to press. One could go on and on with the problems, but there are also many encouraging signs emerging. For instance, in July this year, the fifty-four heads of African countries cloned an African Union (AU) out of the beleaguered Organisation of Africa Unity (OAU).