Many other African countries were also marked by political turbulence and war. Most of those that managed to escape outright armed conflict were afflicted to varying degrees by authoritarian rule, under either military or one-party regimes. When in the early 1990s much of the continent was swept by massive popular agitation for democracy, activists frequently referred to those movements as struggles for Africa’s “second independence.”

With a few exceptions, most African countries have since adopted some form of multiparty electoral system, with periodic elections of their presidents and parliaments. For many of the participants at the Yaoundé conference, that shift has been one of the most notable achievements of the past 50 years, along with the emergence of an independent media and in some countries quite vibrant and active civil society organizations. Those developments, they argue, place Africa on a sounder footing for dealing with the many challenges that face it.

Some of Africa’s critical intellectuals believe this recent democratic shift has been more in form than substance. According to Achille Mbembe, a well-known Cameroonian academic who now teaches at US and South African universities, “For the most part, Africans still are not even able to freely choose their leaders. Too many countries are still at the mercy of satraps whose sole aim is to remain in power for life.”

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