Back to Despair.

UNTIL RECENTLY, AFRICA SEEMED TO BE INCHING TOWARD PEACE AND DEMOCRACY. WHAT WENT WRONG?

The feeding room in Huambo, Angola, is quiet. The children are so severely malnourished that they barely move. There is no laughing, no teasing, no giggling, no squirming--none of the things that should come naturally when 40 children are crowded together for a meal.

In this city under siege--an island of government-controlled land surrounded by rebels--starvation is beginning to set in. In little more than six months, rebel forces have taken about 70 percent of this country, flushing more than a million rural Angolans into the cities, where aid organizations try to dole out food to the most needy.

Only last year, Angola was at peace. Its two-decade civil war appeared to be over at last, making Angola one of the bright spots in what many hoped would be a new Africa. The continent seemed to be turning a corner, overcoming its heritage of natural disasters, corrupt dictators, poverty, and civil war. When President Bill Clinton made a historic visit, he declared that "Democracy is gaining strength" and "peace is making progress."

A new crop of democratic leaders had emerged, determined to forge free markets and nurture democracy. Graft, corruption, and political mismanagement were on the decline. And self-sufficiency seemed to be growing. Africans were taking charge of their own affairs, and depending less on their former colonial masters.

But today, wars have erupted across the continent. Most of the new leaders have fallen short of expectations, doing little to end corruption, rebuild their countries, or extend democracy. While there are notable exceptions in Nigeria and South Africa, the hope of an African renaissance has turned to despair and nobody is talking about the "new Africa" anymore.

BROKEN PROMISE OF DEMOCRACY

Angola is not the only African nation to take one step forward and two steps back. In Congo, citizens cheered in the streets when rebel leader Laurent Kabila overthrew a 32-year-old dictatorship in May 1997. Kabila promised democracy, but instead has banned political parties, jailed opponents, and put off elections for two years. Last year, war broke out again when a new group of rebels took up arms to try to oust Kabila. For now, a shaky peace agreement has ended the fighting, but not resolved the conflict.

In West Africa, rebels in Sierra Leone waged a campaign of butchery against civilians. In a campaign codenamed "No Living Thing," they mutilated and disemboweled thousands of innocent civilians. A peace agreement reached there in August isn't expected to last.

Rwanda and Uganda, trumpeted by President Clinton as the leaders of the African renaissance, have engaged in wars on several fronts, both internally and with other countries.

Many of Africa's troubles can be traced back to its colonial past, when the vast, resource-rich continent was carved up by European powers with no regard to ethnic or tribal areas. In the 1960s and 1970s, independence movements overthrew the colonial governments, but often replaced them with homegrown dictators. Many of these so-called strongmen plundered their countries' resources to line their Swiss bank accounts.

CLEAR SIGNS OF HOPE

Still, Africa's two most powerful nations have reaffirmed the hope that Clinton spoke of. South Africa, which had been ruled by a white minority for more than 300 years, made a remarkably peaceful transition to democratic rule in 1994. Last June, South Africa held a second round of elections, affirming its democracy.

Also in June, Nigeria inaugurated its first democratically elected president in 16 years. Today, the gas stations in the capital, Lagos, offer the clearest signs of one of the most remarkable transformations on the continent.

During its military dictatorship, Nigeria faced constant gas shortages. As a result of government policies designed to enrich a few wealthy families, the world's sixth-largest oil producer became dependent on imported gasoline. Mile-long lines to buy gas choked the roads. Fistfights at the pumps were part of daffy life. And gas stations turned into high-security zones, swarming with soldiers, police officers, and thugs.

Today, you can drive right up and fill your tank in minutes. "The change came with the new government, so we are all happy," says Adeniyi Johnson, 40, a civil servant who recently drove his white Volkswagen beetle to a pump. "I hope it will continue this way."

With reporting by New York Times Africa correspondents SUZANNE DALEY in Angola and NORIMITSO ONISHI in Nigeria.