ONGOING AFRICAN DIASPORAS, the recent growth of Atlantic and diasporic studies, the globalization of capital and culture, the technological revolution and the breakdown in information boundaries, all these have necessitated a rethinking of the African diaspora and its changing meanings. The nature and composition of the African diaspora have undergone significant changes over time: from the forced migration of African captives of the Old and New Worlds to the voluntary emigration of free, skilled Africans in search of political asylum or economic opportunities; from a diaspora with little contact with the point of origin (Africa) to one that maintains active contact with the mother continent; all culminating in the birth of a unique African who straddles continents, worlds and cultures. Today, Africans are found in non-traditional points of migration such as Israel, Japan, Taiwan, New Zealand and Australia. In this diasporic flux, many sociological givens have been challenged and/or transformed: the boundedness of culture and religion; the definition of citizenship; and state-civil society relations, among other things. Intriguing continuities also persist in the existence of trading diasporas within and outside Africa and in the unfortunate survival of forms of unfree labour in Africa and beyond. When the editors of African Affairs invited me to write something thoughtful and provocative on the more contemporary African diasporas and their impact on Africa, they gave me quite wide terms of reference. I have chosen to examine the changing nature of diaspora over time with more emphasis on the twentieth century and its ramifications for African religions and cultures, for the redefinition of political communities, and for the economic potential of the free flow of skilled Africans and African financial capital for African development. Joseph Harris has emphasized the ways in which diasporas 'affect the economies, politics, and social dynamics of both homeland and the host country or area'.l As an historian, I have chosen to dwell on the historical experience of diaspora rather than on the equally important discourse on diaspora that is current in literary and cultural studies, a discourse which nonetheless informs some of the issues examined in this essay, as well as its conceptualization. The