Africa's leaders - an ageing collection of democrats, autocrats and retired freedom fighters - gathered in the Zambian capital Lusaka yesterday in a fresh attempt to forge a brighter future for the world's most benighted continent.
"We are on the threshold of a new beginning for Africa," said the Secretary General, Mr Salim Salim, in his opening speech to the annual summit of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU).
The main item on the agenda is the formation of the African Union, an ambitious project that would provide for greater political and economic integration in a giant, continent-wide bloc.
Loosely modelled on the European Union, the ambitious project will replace the OAU when it is officially launched tomorrow.
But large doubts loom over the project.
Analysts are sceptical about whether Africa's leaders have the necessary political will or the financial muscle when so many of their own countries are racked by division, poverty and disease.
Many of the 50-odd heads of state seated around the table yesterday - such as Sudan's Mr Omar El Bashir or Burundi's Mr Pierre Buyoya - came to power at the barrel of a gun.
Some, such as Mr Paul Kagame of Rwanda, are recovering from genocide.
And many other countries - from Angola on the west coast to Somalia on the east - are wracked by the continuation of bloody and destructive civil wars.
Africa needs to make peace and rebuild like Europe did after the two world wars, the UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, told the assembled leaders.
But he warned of the immense difficulties faced by any union and particularly the threat posed by HIV/AIDS, which has infected over 25 million Africans.
"Africa must reject the ways of the past and commit itself to building a future of democratic governance subject to the rule," he said.
Nevertheless, some of the OAU members object to lectures on democracy.
A leaked resolution on the Zimbabwe land crisis, drafted on Sunday and expected to be adopted tomorrow, noted with concern "British moves to mobilise European and North American countries to isolate and vilify Zimbabwe".
But yesterday President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe appeared to enjoy the solidarity of his colleagues.
Taking his place in the circle of canary-yellow seats, he held hands and joked with his neighbour, the conference host, Mr Frederick Chiluba of Zambia.
However the Zambian leader is also under something of a cloud.
As the speeches began, a funeral service was starting for Mr Paul Tembo, an opposition politician who was brutally murdered last week hours before he was due to give evidence to a corruption tribunal that may have further blackened Mr Chiluba's reputation.
One of the most colourful characters at the summit is the mercurial Libyan leader, Col Muammar Gadafy.
The driving force behind the African Union, he has reportedly helped foot the bill for this year's summit using revenues from his oil-rich country.
He was accompanied to the conference by an entourage of several hundred Libyan officials and was said to be staying in a Bedouin tent pitched on private ground.
His personal bodyguard - a large woman dressed in combat fatigues and wearing lipstick and silver jewellery - cut an incongruous sight beside the slight, dark-suited escorts of the other heads of state.
The summit is also being attended by Irish diplomats and by the UN Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs Mary Robinson.
Mr Annan stressed that African leaders must fight war and poverty in order to tackle the scourge of HIV/AIDS, which has infected over 25 million Africans.