Mali is at risk of splitting apart and Africa is entering a new period of intense change. An article published on April 9 in People's Daily says that the continent's development depends on economic and political "blood production." Africa's future is reliant on whether countries can gradually establish economic and political integration through intra-continent trade and cooperation. Edited excerpts from the piece follow:

The risk of Mali splitting is increasing. Libyan tribal conflicts and sectarian disturbances in Nigeria have also been escalating. Considering the civil war in Côte d'Ivoire, independence in South Sudan, and the Libyan war over the last year, Africa seems to be entering a new period of intense change. At the same time, the continent's economy is growing rapidly. According to the International Monetary Fund, Africa's economic growth rate in 2012 is expected to stay at 6 percent – the same rate as most dynamic Asian economies.

This mixed period of development and turmoil brings Africa both hope and anxiety. Today, the fate of the African continent is closely bonded together with that of the world. And as the driving engine that pushes the world's economy becomes more multipolar, more parties share in the fruits of development. Without this sharing, some kind of force could emerge to constrain global development. 

Africa's fate is in the hands of Africans. The key to Africa's development relies on whether a kind of "blood production" movement can be generated on the continent. This mechanism is not only economic, but also political. Africa's future will depend on whether African countries can gradually establish economic and political integration through economic and trade cooperation with each other.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) sets a good example. It established a regional cooperation mechanism within developing countries and found a road of common development. ASEAN made trade and economic development top priorities, established their own position in the global industrial chain, and later achieved political and cultural cooperation. "Less developed countries, including the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, have the potential to imitate the industrializing countries," recently said Justin Yifu Lin, Chief Economist of the World Bank. This potential Lin cites is one of the main driving forces behind the world's future economic development. 

No stability in Africa, no stability in the world. Africans account for 12 percent of the world's total population, but the continent only attracts 2 percent of total global foreign direct investment, the lowest amount in the world. To achieve stable development, more investment from the international community is needed, along with more constructive support for the formation of a "blood production" movement in Africa. Currently, the international community, especially emerging economies, should increase investment in African infrastructure and focus on elevating the African labor force. 

When external forces provide assistance, they should no longer transform Africa according to their own "political logic," as Western countries did in the past. What colonists imposed on Africa has proved infeasible by history; it now makes up the "triggers" of many current ethnic, tribal and religious conflicts. The international community should help the continent find a more suitable road to development and cooperation, and support the African Union and other regional organizations in their efforts to play a bigger role in solving regional problems. 

"If the new leaders of North African countries can integrate their economies together, a market of more than 75 million consumers will eventually be established, and it will attract more foreign investment and foreign trade," asserted Moroccan scholar Moha Ennaji. This assertion not only applies to North Africa, it applies to the whole of Africa.