HOPE FOR SUBSAHARAN AFRICA: …Consider first the advance of democracy south of the Sahara since the end of the cold war. In the 1960s and 1970s, no African ruler was voted out of office. In the 1980s, one was. Since then, 18 have been, and counting. That still leaves a lot of countries where polls are rigged and dissidents disappear, but it is surely a sign that some African governments are becoming more accountable to their people.

Africa’s media, too, are shaking off their shackles. Under most of the military regimes of the 1970s and 1980s, independent newspapers and radio stations were simply not allowed. Today, they are as numerous as they are irreverent. Television is still largely state-controlled and journalists are still persecuted–occasionally in most countries, systematically in places such as Zimbabwe and Eritrea–but, overall, the mighty are subject to greater scrutiny than before, which makes it a bit harder for them to abuse their power.

…Angola and Sierra Leone are at peace. The pointless border clash between Ethiopia and Eritrea has stopped. Congo’s war, the worst anywhere since the second world war, is formally over. Liberia’s warlord, Charles Taylor, has been driven into exile. Even in Sudan, which has known only 11 years of calm since 1962, government and rebels are on the verge of signing a power-sharing deal.

It is too early to say that Africa has turned a corner, however. …

more

Via Oxblog, which discusses the piece here.