Since the collapse of the Soviet Empire and the end of the cold war over a decade ago, Africa has to a large degree slipped out of the political limelight. It no longer has the same strategic significance. As Mary French points out, media interest tend only to be aroused by humanitarian disasters such as famines and floods -which we witness with horror on our television screens -or by the hideous slaughter that has so often accompanied civil war and strife. But the underlying problems of poverty, hunger, disease, civil war and declining economic perfomance remain the same, if not worse, than before, and this is a continuing disgrace to the rest of the international community. This is not simply a humanitarian statement; it is important for the economic welfare of the peoples not only of Africa itself but of the rest of the world that this vast continent's natural resources and huge economic potential should be properly developed.
(Sir Brian Unwin KCB, President of the European Centre for Nature Conservation and Honorary, President of the European Investment Bank)