ABSTRACT
Africa's marginalization in the global sphere has motivated renewed enthusiasm for regional and continental integration. This chapter begins by looking at the state of the continent and why the renewal of Pan-Africanism is necessary and timely. It then assesses the illusion of sovereignty and proposes that continental unity is much more useful framework through which Africa can solve its problems and interact with the world. The chapter considers the ideas of a select group of Pan-African thinkers and activists, before assessing the prospects of the African Union's peace and development initiatives. Pan-Africanism is an invented notion. It is an invented notion with a purpose. African governments, notably the Heads of State, place an undue focus on the trappings of statehood, in the form of flags, presidential processions and borders. During the Cold War nation-states on the African continent became sanctuaries and fortresses to despotic regimes. African unity is an idea that can be traced back to the nineteenth-century.
