The numerous unification efforts now under way in Africa represent one of the most significant developments in the brief post-independence era of that continent. Freedom has brought withit increased recognition in many African quarters of the interdependence of the African statesand the need for unified approaches to common problems. The new countries together with the handful of older independent African states have nearly all become involved in one or more of theintensified drives toward some form of integration. Paradoxically, the issue of how to achieveunity is becoming one of the principal divisions between African states.