Should We Kill Off African Time?

How many hours have you spent waiting around for people who are late? How many times have they eventually arrived, be it for an evening out or a business meeting, and instead of apologising, they've laughed it off and said "I thought we were going on African time"?


Africa has a bad reputation for time-keeping. African philosopher John S. Mbiti thinks the concept of time for Africans differs from that of the western world. Why is that?


Do you think this relaxed attitude to time is healthier and less stressful? Or is it holding Africa back? Is it part of ou rmakeup to take things easy and not let the clock govern our lives? What are your views?