This work is a general survey of Africa during the post-colonial era. The author looks at how African countries have fared under post-colonial governments, the challenges they have faced through the years, and their successes and failures. He also looks at Africa as a whole during the lost decades - wasted years - when performance of most countries in the political and economic arena was not what the people had expected. They were some of the worst years in the history of post-colonial Africa. Poor economic performance, abuse of power, the brain drain caused by bad government policies and authoritarian rule, forcing tens of thousands of Africans to flee their countries, mostly to the West and most of them highly educated; what Africa needs to do in order to develop; why there is an imperative need to empower the people at the grassroots level; land grab by foreign investors at the expense of peasants and others; and how globalisation has affected Africa since the nineties when it became such a potent force after the end of the Cold War, are some of the subjects the author has also addressed in the book. It is sweeping survey of the continent intended for the general reader and for members of the academic community.