Death of the African Renaissance

Once upon a time, the hopes of a continent rested on Zenawi's shoulders. He came to power in 1991, leading a rebel movement which ousted dictator Haile Mengistu Mariam, and immediately implemented democratic and political reforms. By the mid-1990s, he had earned himself a spot as one of Bill Clinton's infamous "new generation" of African leaders, alongside other promising figures such as Eritrea's Isaias Afwerki, Rwanda's Paul Kagame and Uganda's Yoweri Museveni. These were the men who would overturn all those stereotypes about corrupt, venal and selfish African presidents. These were the men who would lead the African Renaissance. It wasn't much of a renaissance. Barely had the term been coined before Ethiopia and Eritrea were at each other's throats in a vicious border war, never mind that Afwerki and Zenawi had supported each other closely during their respective liberation struggles and were even said to be distantly related. Kagame too was fighting, having fanned the flames in the DRC with such success that a minor rebellion turned into an eight country African war. Museveni, meanwhile, was building on his impressive reputation for corruption and entrenching himself as Prime Minister for life.