Replace Autotools by Setuptools
It looks like every project that has been using Autotools is switching to Meson build system, just have a look at http://planet.gnome.org.
(Comments suggest the switch to setuptools instead of meson.)
Besides being faster the cleaner syntax and easier maintenance are the main reasons for suggesting the switch.
If you haven't something in the pipeline already I'm willing to work on this. Let me know what's your opinion.