Imagine that it is May 25, 2063, the 100th anniversary of Africa Day, a day for reflecting on Africa’s successes and failures. The newspaper headline announces, “Last Remaining Oilfield in West Africa’s American Territory Dries Up.”

Agricultural development in Africa is caught in a long-running ideological conflict between advocates of Green Revolution in the continent and those who believe such a technological approach to be inappropriate and potentially harmful, explain Ravinder Rena

The benefits of globalisation flowed primarily to the developed world and its principal trading partners, among them Brazil, China, and India. As we enter the newer age of mobility, people will move across borders in ever-greater numbers. In their pursuit of opportunity and a better life, they have the potential to chip away at the vast inequalities that characterise our time, writes Ravinder Rena.

Technology has been used by others to exploit Africa for centuries. It is now time for Africa to grasp technology and finally embrace the modern age’s clay of wisdom and advancement, argues Philip Emeagwali

Micrifinace is a powerful tool for development, write Sultan Rehman Sherief and S. Tameem Sharief. They compare experiences across Africa with those in India, and identify the difficulties and challenges faced by microfinance institutions that may guide public policy in the sector.

Recent civil conflicts in Sudan, including in Darfur, have commonly been explained as clashes between competing ethnic groups. Pamela Paglia argues that this concentration on ethnicity as the primary cause for conflicts in Africa underestimates the complexity of African societies and politics. 

The quest for a pan-African government is a diversion from the real challenges facing the people of continent, argues Ike Nnedu. African nations need better governments, not another layer of incompetent, rent-seeking politicians and bureaucrats.

More countries are now integrated into a global economic system in which trade and capital flow across borders with unprecedented energy. Nonetheless, argues Ravinder Rena, globalization has become painful, rather than controversial, to the developing world.

Global demand for natural resources will bring benefits to Africa — increased FDI and improved balance of trade figures — but one of the main concerns is that the scramble for Africa is fuelling corruption, environmental degradation, and internal dissent, writes Ravinder Rena

Ethiopia needs to invest more on manufacturing its own goods. The country has the resources to achieve this. What is lacking is the political will, argues Eleni Agiz.