Towards Africa's Renewal is a multidisciplinary and thought-provoking analysis of the challenges facing contemporary Africa. The book takes its point of departure in Africa's poverty and underdevelopment, and the fact that the expected benefits from economic and political reform and restructuring have not been realised. It brings together scholars and policy makers both from Africa and elsewhere to focus on a variety of issues and debates such as the African state, economic growth and development, gender, civil society, regions and so on.

The African state is analysed from a variety of angles and perspectives. William Zartman discusses various categorisations of the African state, backed by rich empirical illustrations. Other chapters focus on issues of citizenship and subjectivity, on democratisation and political leadership, on states as neo-colonial vassal states, and finally on Nigerian federalism.

The other main emphasis in the book is on economic growth and the political economy of development, at both national and macro-regional levels. These chapters deal with issues such as industrialisation, economic instability, trade regimes, liberalisation, and economic regionalism in ECOWAS and NEPAD. One of the best chapters of the book is by Daniel Ndlela, who emphasises the duality of the non-formal (informal/communal) sector and the formal sector. Even if the non-formal sector contributes significantly to peoples' economic and social well-being, it is not linked beneficially to the formal sector. The point is that because of the lack of a virtuous relationship between the formal and non-formal sectors, the neo-liberal and economic reform programmes to expand African manufacturing sector through its linkages with global economy will not work, and nor will they accelerate regional economic integration.

Another chapter worth mentioning is Jeggan Senghor's critical assessment of existing institutional arrangements for achieving the cooperation and integration objectives of ECOWAS. Using original empirical evidence (especially from Benin, Gambia, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo), Senghor shows that ‘the institutional architecture at the level of member states, the central secretariat and at the interface between the two is inadequate and inappropriate, particularly in terms of structures, resources, and other capacities’ (143). Senghor's chapter is a must-read for all the proponents of the lofty ideals of state-led regionalism in Africa. Two of Senghor's many examples can be mentioned here: first, the total number of personnel of all categories in the ECOWAS national units (i.e. in all member countries) is 110, of which 52 are professional and 58 are support staff (156); second, ‘the units lack basic material resources, especially equipment such as computers and printers, accessories, laptops, electric typewriters, fax machines, vehicles, and internet and local and international telephone services’ (172).

The strength of this book lies in its multifaceted appraisal of what has gone wrong in the past, whereas the book's stated ambition to provide guidance for Africa's renewal is not always convincing, and in many cases is merely touched upon in the concluding section of each chapter. There are also many differences in perspective between the authors. These have different interpretations and policy recommendations about central aspects such as globalisation, political and economic reform, and regional and continental frameworks such as NEPAD. These differences may possibly explain why the editors have decided not to write a conclusion. However, this omission is counterproductive and, in my view, results in fragmentation and too many unanswered questions.

Another disturbance arises from the many typographical errors, and in particular the failure to synchronise the referencing system throughout the book. Some chapters use references in text, others use footnotes, and a few chapters even mix (confuse) the two referencing systems in the same chapter! In spite of these caveats, this is a welcome book, well worth reading, and it may also be useful for teaching.