This overview of Africa is intended as an introduction for people who have a professional contact with the continent, such as workers in NGOs and international organizations, investors in emerging markets, bankers and people in business, diplomats, as well as teachers and students.

Part One States and citizens: Africa in perspective
nationalism, ethnicity and democracy
youth and violence
movements of religious renewal
building public morality. Part Two Institutions and policies: the institutional foundations of growth
formal and informal economic activities
the diversity of adjustment in agriculture
constraints on manufacturing production
an agrarian continent in transition. Part Three Africa in the world: the crisis of the state
regional integration
the politics of aid effectiveness
some legal aspects of migration
Africa's future and the world.