ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on state-building in post-independence Africa. The process of reconstruction includes many elements that cannot be adequately handled in a single volume. The chapter pays particular attention to two aspects of reconstruction: nation-building and territorial reconfiguration. These aspects remain unresolved in most parts of the continent. Territorial trap must be emphasized that post-independence African leaders failed to provide a new territorial framework in which the post-colony could be constructed. Attempts to invoke African history were made by Pan-Africanist leaders such as Nkrumah, who cherished the one-ness of Africans. However, such ideals sailed against the glorification of the nation-state in the post-independence era. In few cases such as Tanzania where the Swahili (language) was mobilized, the nation-building project yielded some positive results. All in all, nation-building in Africa failed at both the continental and national levels. The record of state-building in Africa raises questions of how that process will proceed in post-apartheid South Africa.
