I Want to indicate how the political economy of contemporary Africa is to be explained, and what might reasonably be conjectured about its development. I am mainly interested in the salient features, namely: intense ethnic conflict, the single-party system, the high incidence of efficiency norms in political competition, the recurrence of military coups, political repression, and the poor performance at economic development.

Samir Amin has recently argued that black African countries are all characterised by extreme forms of underdevelopment. In his view, this situation is produced by the dependency of African states on more developed countries that is a consequence of the continent's common historical experience of economic exploitation by European-organised mercantilism, the slave trade, imperialism, and colonialism. Moreover, via the mechanisms of western-based neo-colonialism, African under-development has been perpetuated, and perhaps even increased, during the achievement of political independence over the past 25 years.

Decolonisation is the great revolution of the twentieth century. Since the opening of the first U.N. General Assembly in 1946, over one billion people inhabiting 76 new states – nearly one-third of the human race – have attained political independence as of 1974. But until the final demise of external domination is achieved, the tasks of decolonisation are not yet complete. There remain the intractable problems of Southern Africa, as well as a variety of small territories still under alien rule. Given recent indications of the politicisation of blacks in the white redoubt, as well as the independence of Mozambique and Angola, it is a particularly appropriate time to take stock of the decolonisation movement.

For a long time ‘emancipation’ in Africa meant solely liberation from European rule. But when 17 African states became independent in 1960 and when from 1956 to 1966 32 countries finally attained national sovereignty, the continent, in part, emancipated itself from this type of colonial rule. Only in Southern Africa is it impossible to speak of emancipation in international legal terms. This state of affairs has engendered a strong sense of solidarity among independent African nations vis-à-vis the ‘unresolved’ area of the continent, as reflected in every conference of the Organisation of African Unity, as well as in many United Nations resolutions. However, it soon became clear to those who equated emancipation with legal sovereignty, with governments run by Africans with national flags and national anthems, that true emancipation must mean something else.

The foreign policy of any country contains a variety of values and goals, and advances several interests and concerns. This article examines the continuities and discontinuities, compatibilities and contradictions in the foreign policy of Zambia. In particular, it focuses on the emerging debate over the direction of the Zambian society and state, and over the definition of the national ideology of Humanism.

In a speech to the South African Senate on 23 October Prime Minister Vorster declared that the situation in Southern Africa had reached a point at which a choice had to be made between peaceful negotiation on the one hand, or escalating strife on the other. He offered Africa ‘the way of peace’. Within three days President Kaunda responded favourably. In a graduation day speech at the University of Zambia, he described Vorster's overture as ‘the voice of reason for which Africa and the world have been waiting for many years’. Without hesitation policy-makers and the press in South Africa fastened upon the term détente, hoisted it from another context, and applied it to describe both the atmosphere and substance of ensuing interstate relations in Southern Africa.

Nigeria has for long had an open economy exporting mainly primary commodities to industrial countries and importing their manufactured products. Exports are the main source of the foreign exchange needed to purchase the machinery and capital equipment that are indispensable for the growth of the economy, while the bulk of government revenue is derived from the taxation of imports and exports. There is little doubt that the dynamism and growth of the Nigerian economy will continue to depend largely on international trade – hence the vigorous pursuit of policies aimed at expanding traditional and opening-up new trade links. In this article, we shall look closely at the changing relationship with Japan, a country whose survival depends on international trade as much as Nigeria.

There are ideological, political, and economic incentives for nationalising foreign-based companies which operate in the export sectors of African economies. The basis of this appeal is the expectation that significant positive net benefits will arise from partial or complete acquisition of company assets. The expected gross benefits which serve as the basis for calculation are subject to risk, because national owners often become decision-takers within global markets over which they are constrained from exerting control.

As one of the 25 countries listed as ‘least developed’ by the United Nations, considerable thought is at present being given in many quarters to various aspects of development in Lesotho. Agricultural schemes involving millions of dollars have been initiated, and experts in different disciplines are employed by the Government to help solve some of the seemingly intractable problems of this small country surrounded by the Republic of South Africa.

It is the hypothesis of this article if the Provisional Military Administrative Committee, which took power in Ethiopia on 12 September 1974, is really intent on uprooting the feudal social system that has flourished for so long, then a revolution by violent means is necessary. As Frantz Fanon says, ‘if the last shall be first, this will only come to pass after a murderous and decisive struggle between the two protagonists’.