Today, Africa’s growth is greatly attributed to the commencement of the second liberation, where dictatorship was overpowered while human rights and democracy were embraced. Through this new approach, African society started enjoying a new wave of change and growth through global connectedness, which has provided a new vision for the continent. Therefore, the rationale of this discussion is to define the necessity of the second liberation, the changes that Africa has realized in the last 40 years, and the prospects that still await this region.
The second liberation in Africa was necessitated by the need to scrap away dictatorship regimes (Kiogora 2015, 227). The western economies played an active role in commencing this ideology after they declined to offer help to African states, which refused to implement human rights and democracy. Consequently, opposition leaders and activists in dictatorial governments became active participants in the second liberation movement by fighting the party-state regime for political freedom and diplomacy to prevail. South Africa is an ideal example of a country where the second liberation started with Nelson Mandela, an active advocate of this new system. As a result, according to the country’s constitution, Mandela became the first majority-voted president of this state in 1994 (Kiogora, 2015, 227). Therefore, the second liberation became a new possibility that civil rights could prevail in this continent and worldwide with the overthrow of repressive regimes and replaced with more diplomatic ones. On the other hand, the second liberation also brought the Renaissance to Africa (Kiogora, 2015, 228). Indeed, through globalization, Africa received acknowledgment on the global platform and actively started engaging with other world economies to resolve the underlying problems.
Within the last 40 years, Africa has realized significant changes in different sectors. For instance, technology has facilitated constant communication between African and individuals abroad. For example, through cyberspace, Africans in the diaspora and at home attain information about their motherland, thus ensuring active participation globally (Kiogora, 2015, 229). Economic advancement has continued to prevail, with more people in the diaspora sending significant amounts of money to their African kin to invest in real estate, a process that empowers people economically (Kiogora, 2015, 229). In fact, through effective leaders, the African profile has continued to rise on the global platform as changes in leadership systems have encouraged democracy. For example, among other prominent laureates, Africa has produced Nobel Peace Prize winners, including Kofi Annan and Prof. Wangari Maathai. In addition, entrepreneurs at all levels have emerged and continued to grow the social and economic well-being of the African continent (Kiogora 2015, 230). On the other hand, Africa is now being represented globally through institutions such as the African Union, which apparently avers that this continent is slowly uniting for a greater purpose.
Africa is experiencing notable changes, but the fact remains that its continued rebirth and transformation entirely rely on the new generation. Therefore, young people today have a different ideology of the new world. In fact, technology is in their hands since they are enterprising people, evolving very fast, and who are moving with the dynamic world. For example, George Ayittey’s book recounts that young Africans are the cheetah generation (Kiogora, 2015, 229). In this aspect, they carry the new hope of this continent through their ability to fight against inefficient, corrupt, and incompetent leaders.
As it is palpable from the above discussion, the necessity of the second liberation led to myriads of changes that are being recognized in the world today. Concisely, this movement ushered Africa into the Renaissance era and paved the way for democracy to prevail in most dictatorship governments. As a result, Africa has consistently experienced growth in the economy, leadership, technological, and social contexts. However, despite these changes, the full realization of the second liberation solely depends on the young generation, which has the capability of ensuring its success.
Reference
Kiogora, G., T. (2015). “Towards an African Renaissance: Pan-Africanism and African in the
diaspora” (re)Tracing Africa: A Multi-Disciplinary Study of African History, Societies, and Cultures. Ed. Salome Nnoromele and Ogechi. Anyanwu, Kendall Hunt.