Homophobia

The social fabric in the continent is also changing following the declaration by the British that any country that discriminates against gays and lesbians will face aid sanctions. That saw an uproar in Uganda, Ghana and Malawi.

The British Prime Minister David Cameron had threatened to slash general budget support to countries that are not serious about reforms of laws that criminalize homosexuality.

Homosexuality is illegal in Malawi, it's about to be criminalized in Uganda with the ultimate penalty being death, while in Ghana, the authorities there simply say that homosexuality is incompatible with African culture and belief systems.

The push to tone down homophobia is needed and seen as a step toward the respect for human rights.

EAC challenges

The countries in the East Africa Community – the five-member econo-political bloc with Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi – also has its share of challenges experienced in 2011, with top of the list being the high food and fuel prices, and the depreciating shilling. In Kenya and Uganda there have been food protests against the skyrocketing inflation. The governments have stepped in, but then, the interventions have been grossly inadequate.

A 2-kilo packet of sugar in Kenya has risen from $1 to more than $2 in just six months, a price out of reach for the majority of Kenyans who survive on less than a dollar a day.

When the year began, Kenya was peaceful, but as 2011 progressed Kenya has made a daring assault in Somalia against the militant Islamist group called Al-Shabaab and its activities in Kenya. Al-Shabaab have promised retaliatory attacks to protest Kenya's military operation in Somalia with grenade attacks in Nairobi and the ensuing conflict is sure to make bigger news in 2012.

Environment

South Africa grabbed the world's attention at COP17 as the harbor for debate on the environmental degradation at a time when the global population has hit 7 billion people.

More mouths to feed and more people to employ, means that there has to be more land for food production and more industries to produce goods for the billions of people. This means that pressure on the hitherto pristine forests on the continent is likely to increase as people expand the arable land. If that happens haphazardly, desertification is guaranteed, resulting in more droughts and famine.

That's why the climate change talks in South Africa in November are crucial, not only to ensure that the continent does not bear the brunt, but that it also succeeds in its quest for food security and sufficient clean water supply all year round.

When historians look back at 2011, they will remember it as perhaps one of the most historic years of the millennium.