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From the Editor/Publisher
Jideofor Adibe, PhD.
Africas Multiple Allegiances
In the November/December 2005 edition of the journal, we focused on post-Apartheid South Africa, which has a dominant position in Africas political economy. We examined the countrys Africa policies, including its trade policies, and posed a number of vital questions: What is the character of South Africas relations with the rest of the continent Who benefits from its apparently increasing engagement with the rest of the continent Put simply, is South Africa the new big brother or the new imperial power in Africa
In this issue we look at the impact of Africas multiple allegiances on Pan-Africanism, African identity, development trajectories, and unity projects. Basically contributors to the lead theme have sought to answer the following crucial questions: why multiple allegiances and how are these expressed Do they augment or undermine Africas pan-African unity projects What are the impacts of the expressions of these multiple allegiances on the pattern of political and economic developments in the continent And what are the roles of external powers in sustaining these multiple allegiances
Contributors to the lead theme in this issue have sought answers to the above and more. Issaka Souare looks at the aggregation of some African countries around various regional economic communities (RECs) in Africa, and the impact of these on efforts at genuine integration in the continent. He identifies 14 such regional economic communities in Africa and argues that though these ought to be the building blocks of the African Union, their sheer number alone often stretches the human and financial resources of the member countries. In another contribution, he looks at how the adoption of the languages of the former colonial powers as official languages accentuates the sociocultural distance among African countries. He notes that the promotion of the former colonial powers languages through such structures as the Commonwealth (for former British colonies), lOrganisation Internatinale de la Francophonie or the Organisation of French speaking countries (for former French colonies), and Comunidade dos Paises de Lingua Portuguesa or the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (for the former Portuguese colonies) could unravel the whole project of African unity if this system of dividing Africans is not challenged.
Forster Bankie Forster examines the conflicts between pan-Africanism and pan-Arabism at the Afro-Arab Borderlands of Sudan and Mauritania, as well as efforts to export pan-Arabism to other African countries. He argues that despite continuing cordial relations between the African and Arab states, symbolized by their recurrent meetings within the OAU/AU framework, at the people-to-people level, suspicion and enmity reign. Amadu Jacky Kaba compares the socioeconomic development and mortality rates in British and French Africa and argues that while British Africa (parts of Africa colonised by Britain) tend to have higher rates of educational attainment and relatively stronger economies, females in French Africa (parts of Africa colonised by the French) tend to live longer than their British African counterparts.
Ann Talbot discusses the promises of the West to help alleviate poverty and underdevelopment in Africa.. She argues that the performance of the Western leaders at the World Trade Organisation Meeting in Hong Kong shows that the campaigns in the West in 2005 to Help Make Poverty in Africa are mere political gestures and word mongering. She also regards as erroneous the notion that poor countries can trade themselves out of poverty, arguing that such a notion is based on the fallacy that international regulations can make a fundamentally inequitable economic system, which favours the rich and powerful, fair to the weak and powerless. She infers that as the rich nations continuously fail to deliver on their promises, African countries tend to seek solace in various regional economic groupings, which accentuate their multiple allegiances without necessarily bringing economic development.
Besides the lead themes, we have also assembled other interesting articles from conversations with the anti-Apartheid crusader, Ahmed Kathrada, to the implications of the Chinese logocentic revolution for pan-Africanism.
African Renaissance celebrates its tenth issue
African Renaissance made its debut in June 2004 as a bi-monthly multidisciplinary platform for the analysis of Africas aspirations, challenges, hopes and fears. The journal is a cross between an academic publication and any higher-end policy-oriented report. This issue is our tenth. We thank all our readers, subscribers and advertisers for their support. To contribute or subscribe to the journal, please contact: editor@adonis-abbey.com
African Journal of Business and Economic Research
African Journal of Business and Economic Research (AJBER), a peer-reviewed academic journal makes its debut on January 30, 2006. The journal will be published three times a year, with one of these being a monograph. To contribute to the journal please see pages (14 and 32 of this journal). For subscription enquiries, please see page 15.