Now, I don't usually take to quoting Tony Blair for the titles of my posts, but the above quote is perhaps one of the most appropriate things the once-PM and once-decent guy ever said. One thing you cannot escape when you travel through Africa is the pure, unadulterated poverty that exists on this continent. As a brief illustration, let me quote some rankings from the UN Human Development Index. This is the list that tries to establish how poor a country is, not just by looking at pure economic figures, but by taking into account other factors, such as adult literacy rates and life expectancy. So, of the African countries I've visited this year, let's look at their ranking out of 177: Egypt (111); Morocco (123); Mauritania (153); Senegal (156); Cape Verde (106); Mali (175); Burkina
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