Africa and the APARC Mission 1. What is APARCs relevance to contemporary trends and developments in Africa? Africa is undergoing a profound period of change. In the 1950s and 60s that change was from colonization to independence. In the 1990s and into this century the change is equally profound. The change is the trend toward democratic and free market reform. APARCs role is to: (i) chronicle this phase in Africas development