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10 January 2000

It is my pleasure to welcome you all to this path-braking and stimulating initiative organized by the Africa Policy Information Center (APIC) and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). It would not be wrong to state that we are not just entering a new century but also a new era. For Africa, the importance of this Roundtable cannot be over emphasized. With the continuing consequences of the distortions and disarticulations of the past ranging from misgovernance, wanton human rights abuses, external domination, and exploitation and marginalization in the global divisions of labor and power, it is time to create new platforms for progressive and relevant discourses on Africa, its past, present, and future. The world is changing and Africa cannot, once again, afford to be left behind. Irrespective of size, population or other endowments, globalization affects and would continue to affect all African nations.

The purpose of this Roundtable is to get our activists, policy makers, professionals, and scholars to contribute to finding ways to directly engage the challenges facing the continent and articulate realistic prescriptions to the daunting challenges facing African states. The opportunities for Africa are limitless. New discourses, leaders, political platforms, and discourses are emerging. The pains of the past, arising largely from the unequal distribution of the pains and costs of political and economic reform have compelled hitherto marginalized communities and constituencies to design creative strategies of survival.

The discourse of politics has changed as issues of transparency, good governance, socio-economic and cultural rights, gender equality and social justice now constitute the core of political engagements and contestations. Military rule is increasingly unpopular and the resort to violence to settle political disagreements is giving way to dialogue. In place of elite-driven and imposed constitutional rule, new agitations are emerging for a process-led, people-driven and participatory approach to constitution making. New political institutions are emerging to advance the interests of the disadvantage just as non-governmental organizations now dominate all spheres of life.

Finally, in spite of the economic devastation precipitated by the poor implementation of orthodox economic programs of stabilization and adjustment, a new crop of indigenous investors have emerged all over the continent determined to build sectoral linkages, promote local technology, build new skills and expand Africa's place in the emerging global market. The challenges are enormous but the solution lies in our ability to break the wall of intellectual and political silence, build viable networks, engage in useful discussions, and make our contributions meaningful to policy.

I would like to welcome you all to this Electronic Roundtable. It is my hope that you will all feel very free to express your ideas holding nothing back. It is also my expectation that your contributions to this Roundtable would do justice to the longstanding commitment of APIC and the ECA to the progressive growth and development of Africa, the building of intellectual capital, and the sustenance of democratic development.

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