tellectuals) to take pride in their heritage, and to take charge of their lives. For Noel Moukala of *Renaissance Africaine, no African Renaissance without African Unity. When Africans overcome their differences to unite, they can then talk about African Renaissance. 
Okumu argues that in favor of perceived African cultural traits he believes are worthy of preservation and continuation. These include such aspects of interpersonal relations as "social inclusion, hospitality, and generous sharing." In addition there is attentive and perceptive listening to others. Also he argues, social acceptance is not based on wealth, but on the basis of relationships to others. Individuals together support their extended family, avoiding the extremes of dependency and paternalism.
Other individuals seen as being the "new generation of African leaders" that would accomplish the goals of the African Renaissance were President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and President Paul Kagame of Rwanda.
Cultural historian Owen Alik Shahadah says that the term is an anachronism and articulates the African reality in European historical terms thus posing African history as a cultural orphan of Europe. However, the term "African Renaissance" remains in frequent use. This is the case especially in South Africa, where the African National Congress has adopted it as part of its ideology and where the phrase is sometimes used in advertising.
One direct response (a mirror response in a sense) to Mbeki's call on artists and thinkers to take up his utopian vision, was offered by Andre Venter who published I Ching for the 'African Renaissance' in 2006. Before its publication a proof of concept work for the artists' book was exhibited at the Aardklop cultural festival and later at the University of Johannesburg. The exhibition curated by David Paton was entitled "Navigating the Bookscape". The work's position takes "renaissance" to mean: a radical change in "systems of thinking". Venter's comment through the "I Ching for the 'African Renaissance'" was complex (both aimed at material and symbolic practices), but it illustrated (in an empirical sense) how unlikely it was that radical change could occur in our "systems of thinking" in South Africa at the time of its publication. Venter showed — through this "limit-experience" — that to allow chance to play a role in the transformation of "govern-mentality" in South Africa was near impossible. The work posits chance as the only escape from a "system of thinking" which limits our ability to imagine alternatives to how we have come to think of ourselves as Africans. He did so by presenting President Mbeki's office with a leather bound, hand made copy of the artists' book — "I Ching for the 'African Renaissance' - and waits for a response. The soft cover (first edition) is out of print, but a digital version is available through the Internet Archive. An uncommon attribute of the publication is that it makes no claim to an Author. This strategy led both Wits University and the University of Johannesburg libraries to use derivatives of the publisher's name, as the author name, in order to classify the book.
- African Century
- African Renaissance Monument, Dakar, Senegal
- New Partnership for Africa's Development
- Thabo Mbeki. (08-05-1996) Statement on behalf of the African National Congress, on the occasion of the adoption by the Constitutional Assembly of "The Republic of South Africa Constitutional Bill 1996" Office of the President.
- Thabo Mbeki. (08-13-1998) The African Renaissance Statement Office of the Executive Deputy President.
- Malagapuru William, ed. African Renaissance, Mafube and Tafwelberg, Sandton and Cape Town, 1999 p. ii
- Washington A.J. Okumu, 2002, p. 157
- Okumu, 2002, p. 17
- Okumu, 2002 p. 267
- Okumu, 2002 p. 170
- Okumu, 2002 p. 12
- Okumu, 2002 pp. 7-8
- http://www.africanholocaust.net/news_ah/language%20new%20reality.htm#colonial Language for a new African Reality-Owen Alik Shahadah.
- Malegapuru William Makgoba, ed., African Renaissance, Mafube and Tafelberg, Sandton and Cape Town, 1999
- ---