Journal of African Foreign Affairs (JoAFA) Volume 1, Number 2, 2014
About This Edition
ISSN : 2056-5658 (Online), 2056-564X (Print)
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Africa remains bedeviled by several developmental challenges despite the current Afro-optimism - a deep-seated belief that the future is bright for the continent. In fact so much has changed since March 2000 when The Economist declared Africa “a hopeless continent.” (The Economist, 2000). In fact the wave of Afro-optimism has been such that by December 2011, The Economist, the same magazine that ‘anointed’ Africa a “hopeless continent” in 2000, changed tune, and talked about “Africa Rising”, saying the continent has a realistic chance of following in the footsteps of Asia (Odinga, 2014). In fact, Africa is increasingly becoming the beautiful bride of the world, with six of the ten fastest growing economies in the world being in the continent (CP-Africa, 2014).
Yet, despite the Afro-optimism, real developmental challenges remain and old habits persist on several fronts.
In this issue of JoAFA, we analyse some of the contemporary problems of the continent from different theoretical perspectives. Simon Alozieuwa in ‘Rebel Movements, Militia Groups and the Problematic of Contemporary African Political Leadership’, discusses the problem of rebel and militia activities in Africa and argues that while most of the militia and rebel groups are driven by sheer inordinate quest for power, some have their roots in the politics of exclusion that is prevalent in many parts of Africa.