This small book is a product of very different inspirations. One can see this in the manner that it knits together some ideas around the theme of African decolonisation and the status of African ideas in contemporary globalisation. The very title of this work conjures up a vision of a cultural and spiritual journey into the future of the African continent. In a real sense, the discourse illuminates this journey away from post-coloniality towards the creation of a new identity for the continent in so many complex ways. From my own standpoint, it is a futuristic endeavour to problematise some of the contentious challenges that face our people in the journey towards a different constellation of a free and prosperous Africa. It does not pronounce grand narratives as its primary quest.

And yet contemporary globalisation has attempted in many ways to carry the old in the new, like the proverbial leopard that does not change its spots. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. In the terrain of language, in scholarship, in the natural sciences, in popular culture and in ethical reconstruction, Africa still faces real challenges. It needs to create its own leadership. It is important at least to analyse soberly some of the more contentious social and cultural challenges that face our continent today beyond the shrill statements about a ‘war against Eurocentrism’ or an ‘African Renaissance’. This book is a modest attempt at opening a dialogue on these issues, to which the author is passionately committed.

The structure of this book itself shows the difficulty of trying to accomplish such a goal. In a sense it reflects the agony and reveries of a thinker on a journey towards communication and engagement with expert cultures. For all intellectuals engaged in these issues, the courage to write about these themes may be an important thing itself.

Homage is being paid to amongst others Professor Valentin Mudimbe at Duke University who opened my eyes to the fact that African discourses need a greater voice.