ABSTRACT
The much-quoted aphorism of the Roman general, Scipio Africanus, that ‘There is always something new out of Africa’ has been turned on its head. There has always been something new being offered to Africa. Fortunately, among the successive waves, there is an increasing number of studies from Africans trying to make their voices heard. African society was different and apparently immune to the economic rationality which is the basic assumption of European political economy. Economists and political scientists have to adopt a similar humility before criticizing African approaches to political economy and proposing their own solutions to problems as if these were of universal application. The outbreaks of civil violence and internecine wars in Africa seemed to be more the result of the impasse of accumulating debt and the destruction of old forms of community action than of any irreconcilable differences between ethnic groups. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
