Africa Must Unite Revisited: Continuity and Change in the Case for Continental Unification

Celebrating the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Kwame Nkrumah, this essay reflects on contemporary aspects of observations presented in Africa Must Unite, Nkrumah's magnum opus, which made a comprehensive case for uniting the newly independent states of Africa. The focus here is on the utility of the conceptual framework that Nkrumah provided for the purpose of evaluating expressions of continental unification in Africa. Nkrumah's notions of neocolonialism, the political kingdom, and balkanization are examined. Conditions and contexts have evolved, but current manifestations of the debate about continental unification show the continued relevance of Nkrumah's claims