JOHANNESBURG — Africans offered tough love for their leaders and expressed hope for the future Tuesday as they assessed progress since 1960, the year that brought independence to a third of the continent.
Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, a Ghanaian, said contemplating five decades of freedom gave him hope for the future.
"We think Africa does have the ability to become the next frontier, if we organize properly and if we govern ourselves properly," Annan told reporters in Johannesburg. "We can look forward with hope, provided that we do the basic work".
Annan was in South Africa to launch a report on the continent's political and economic state by his Africa Progress Panel. The panel was founded in 2007 to track progress on pledges by industrialized countries to increase aid to Africa and by African leaders to strengthen democracy and fight corruption.
In 1960, 17 African countries gained independence from European colonial powers, making it a banner year for African nationalists. The number nearly doubled over the next three years, and 32 independent African states formed the Organization of African Union, the precursor to today's African Union, on May 25, 1963 — the date now commemorated as Africa Day. Link
