This conference, financed by the Rockefeller Foundation, was attended by the research directors of the following centres: Institut de recherches économiques et sociales (I.R.E.S.), Lovanium University, Congo; Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (N.I.S.E.R.), University of Ibadan; U.N. African Institute for Economic Development and Planning (I.D.E.P.), Dakar, Senegal; Economic Development Institute (E.D.I.), University of Nigeria, Nsukka; Institut de rcience économique appliquée (I.S.E.A.), Dakar; Department of Economics, University of Khartoum, Sudan; proposed Bureau of Economic Research, the University College, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; East African Institute of Social Research (E.A.I.S.R.), Makerere University College, Uganda; and the Rhodes-Livingstone Institute, Lusaka, Zambia. In addition, there were the director of the Economic Development Division of the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa (E.C.A.), Addis Ababa; the head of the Training Division of the O.E.C.D. Development Centre, Paris; a member of the Institute of Economic Research of the National University of Chile, Santiago; and two representatives of the Rockefeller Foundation, New York.

Broadcasting, especially of a religious nature, has a varied pattern in Africa today. The reasons are not far to seek, in the variety of European colonial powers who left their mark on Africa, followed by the interest and influence of non-colonial powers such as the U.S.A. Nigeria owes most to the patterns of the B.B.C.; the former French territories show strong marks of resemblance to C.R.T.F.; Liberia looks like an American child, and Ethiopia has her own peculiar pattern, having learned much from Sweden, the U.S.A., and Germany. The variety is increased in the field of religious broadcasting by the activities of the various missionary societies. Some of these have totally ignored the opportunities of the mass media or concentrated on literature; others, notably the Lutherans and Baptists, have pioneered in radio and are ready to do the same for television. There are Christian studios in Africa producing programmes for the missionary stations like R.V.O.G. in Addis Ababa, or for commercial stations broadcasting to African countries.

The educational problems in developing countries are immense. Not least is the shortage of teachers. This shortage is felt—in Africa certainly—not only in the schools but also in the adult education field. Can the developing countries afford to wait wishfully, in the belief that out of the womb of time a natural solution will one day emerge in the shape of enough teachers to satisfy the enormous demand?

From the very outset, the Lusaka conference on mass media was convinced that the answer to this question is an emphatic no; that the problem of adult education must be solved, not shelved—and that a serious beginning must be made now. The task of the conference was to see how the resources of the mass media could be harnessed in an all-out effort to wipe out ignorance and illiteracy. The conference was short and fruitful, its recommendations practical and to the point.

This was the second time demographers from all over the world had been brought together under the joint auspices of the United Nations and the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population. The first was in Rome, in 1954. The progress made over this decade is indeed tremendous. To begin with, the difference is one of sheer dimension: at the Belgrade conference more than oo papers were presented, including a large number of extremely valuable background papers, and the number of participants was around 800.

This conference was attended by delegations from all the countries of West Africa other than the Ivory Coast, most of them led by ministers; and the executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, Mr R. K. A. Gardiner, attended in person.

The conference had a dual origin: one was a series of meetings convened by President Diori Hamani of Niger, and serviced by a group of experts led by Professor de Bernis of the University of Grenoble; the other was the work of the E.C.A., starting with its publication of Industrial Growth in Africa (New York, 1963), followed by its mission on industrial co-ordination in West Africa, and a conference on iron and steel held in Monrovia in 1963, and culminating in a series of specialised studies. The final papers for the conference were prepared in collaboration between the E.C.A. secretariat and Professor de Bernis' group.

Robert Delavignette was the chairman for this one-day colloquium organised by the Centre de hautes études administratives sur l'Afrique et l'Asie modernes (C.H.E.A.M.), on ‘The Psychology of the Elites of Black Africa’. There were some 60 participants, including many French specialists on Africa, and African teachers, journalists, and intellectuals. Four papers were discussed, each of which had been distributed to the audience in advance, only a brief synopsis being given at the colloquium to introduce the discussion. Between them they touched on a wide variety of problems connected with the psychology of the élite.

The tremendous increase in contacts that has taken place in recent years between African universities and universities in Europe and America has thrown up a number of common problems in the fields of joint research schemes and recruitment. It was to discuss these problems that the Centre of African Studies, Edinburgh University, in association with the U.K. Ministry of Overseas Development, convened a conference, attended by about 100 delegates, representing British universities (mainly from Scotland and the north of England), the Ministry of Overseas Development, and universities in English-speaking African countries.

This was the second annual Seminar for university teachers of economics held by the African Institute for Economic Development and Planning (I.D.E.P.). There were 22 anglophone—and unfortunately only 10 francophone— participants, from 28 teaching and research institutions in 16 African countries. The following papers were presented: ‘The Necessity and Limitations of Planning as a Tool for Economic Development’, by Professor Diran Bodenhorn, University of Ibadan; ‘The Use of Critical Path Analysis as an Aid to Planning in African Countries’, by J. R. Jurcan, University of Glasgow; ‘Planning as a Tool for Economic Integration in Africa’, by Professor H. C. Bos, Netherlands School of Economics; and ‘Planning in Agriculture: techniques and problems’, by J. Dalton, Economic Commission for Africa, Addis Ababa.

American scholarly organisations have evolved highly institutionalised forms of ritual, the peak being the annual meeting, when scholars from all parts of the country converge on an antiquated and inconvenient hotel in one of the larger cities for a three-day conference. The ostensible purpose is the delivery of many papers, supposedly representing contemporary scholarly interests, though some are so phenomenally thin or irrelevant that one suspects that they were written in haste, merely to justify a claim for travel expenses. There are usually so many papers that they are read consecutively, and participants drift from one panel to another, often pausing for conversation or rest in the hotel lobbies. Ancillary purposes of the annual meeting are to elect new officers, meet old friends, recruit staff, search for better positions, inspect new publications, or merely to be seen.

The U.N. Statistical Commission and the U.N. Statistical Office are responsible for a world programme of work which is intended not only to assist the development of national statistical programmes, but also to establish international standards for ensuring the comparability of data. The general principles arising from these activities offer one of the main sources of guidance for countries developing their statistical programmes.

This International Congress was organised by the University College, Dar es Salaam, in conjunction with the Government of Tanzania, and with financial assistance from U.N.E.S.C.O. It was concerned with the related problems of research and teaching in African history, and the working plan covered four main points: African historiography, its methods, its emerging themes, and the teaching of African history.

By 1967, when the water level reaches its maximum, the Volta dam will have created one of the largest man-made lakes in the world, thereby completing a scheme which has fascinated government officials, business men, and politicians since the early years of the century. The purpose of the symposium, which was sponsored jointly by the Volta River Authority and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, was to consider the progress made so far on one aspect of this complex project, namely the resettlement programme. Building the Volta dam has meant flooding some 3,275 square miles, or approximately 4 per cent of Ghana's land surface. In human terms it has meant disrupting the lives of more than 80,000 people, whose homes are being flooded by the rising waters of the Volta lake. The Volta River Authority has been charged with the responsibility of resettling these displaced persons, taking as its guiding principle the ruling laid down by President Nkrumah that ‘nobody should be worse off than before’. Ultimately, of course, the hope is that living standards will be improved very considerably.

In 1958, when the African Studies Association was founded, a small group of American scholars who were interested in Africa comprised the first annual general meeting. This year nearly 1,000 people attended the eighth annual meeting. Most of those attending were fellows and members of the Association, augmented by visitors from many parts of the world. These included Seretse Khama, Prime Minister of Bechuanaland, who gave the main address at the opening plenary session. Other visitors included Daryll Forde from London, S. N. Varma from the Department of African Studies at the University of Delhi, and Philippe Decraene, African correspondent for the Paris paper, Le Monde.

The economic aid programmes of Kuwait should be viewed within the context of that country's economic status, which cannot be described as either ‘developing’ or ‘developed’. Indeed, such simple classifications fail to allow for a situation in which a nation might be developed in certain aspects yet be ‘under-developed’ in others. Criteria which generally indicate a developed economy include a high income per capita, a high rate of economic growth and a sound external financial situation. The Kuwaiti economy fulfils these requirements. In 1964 the income per capita reached $3,275 in Kuwait as compared to $3,221 for the United States and $2,161 for Sweden. An average annual growth rate reaching eight per cent can be claimed, which is about double that of the highly industrialised world powers. The Kuwaiti balance of payments is most favourable if compared with that of many ‘developed’ nations. Furthermore, it spends over 20 per cent of its national income on economic aid programmes.

The pace of development in Africa makes it necessary for traditional administrative structures, at all levels, to be constantly adjusted and adapted to meet fresh needs. The main objectives of C.A.F.R.A.D. (Centre africain deformation et de recherche administratives pour le développement) are to study these problems, and to encourage and assist African governments and African scholars in doing so.

The purpose of this annual conference was to give an opportunity for social scientists doing research in East Africa to meet, report to professional colleagues on the results of their studies, and participate in criticism and discussion. The 100-odd participants were drawn mainly from the three University Colleges, but also from other institutions, both inside and outside East Africa. A somewhat arbitrary classification of the papers presented gives 14 in economics, 6 in sociology and anthropology, 5 in agriculture, 10 in political science, and 5 in manpower planning and education. The papers were almost all on East African topics, frequently showing an interdisciplinary approach, and many were concerned directly or indirectly with problems of development. This short note cannot summarise or even mention all the papers; it gives only a selective and superficial sketch of what was presented and discussed at the conference.

Some time ago I became involved in one of Britain's minor export industries, the G.C.E. Advanced Level examinations (overseas). A minor industry in terms of economic return, but a major one in terms of the export of ideas, and it is with the actual concepts that are exported that I wish to concern myself. It may be as well to declare the limitations of my sample—about 800 scripts from Ghana and Nigeria over the last two years—and to make it perfectly plain that the defects I attempt to demonstrate in the students' understanding of British politics stem from British and not African errors.

The Ford Foundation generously provided travelling expenses for 12 law teachers from Basutoland, Ethiopia, Ghana, Liberia, Rhodesia, Sierra Leone, the Sudan, and Tanzania to attend this four-day conference, together with 30 Nigerian participants. It was an attempt, and a successful one, to bridge the gap between law faculties, which revealed many common problems.

The initial meeting produced much agreement concerning the methods of teaching jurisprudence in Africa, a course which has been in some schools a dull and irrelevant exercise for students. No one disputed the value to African students of the classics of jurisprudence, but it was felt that the course should encompass more than a study of legal philosophies developed in other societies. Law students should be acquainted with the data of sociologists, economists, anthropologists, political scientists, and other specialists who have studied African society, and they should be reminded that the legal philosophy of their country cannot ignore the facts discovered by these other disciplines. This philosophy of law will help to determine, and will be partly determined by, the answers given to to such questions as: What is the role of the judge in the one-party state? Does he make law, interpret it, or simply apply it? Or is he only to find the facts in a dispute ? What is the function of law in economic planning, in state management?