A useful chart showing how the governmental composition of Africa has shifted over time. (ADCBI)……

Like the spreadsheet. Thought about factoring-in population size so we could see the ratio of people living under each situation as opposed to the ratio of countries, simply because of the wide variance in population size amongst African countries. However looking at your original S/S I’m not sure on how to do it!

Now if only Bono would stop the neverending torrents of aid! I blogged about an interesting article here, which counters the conventional wisdom about the impact of aid on Africa. Though it makes people feel good, it actually undermines African development. Given how you describe this blog/project, you may find it interesting.

I think, to be fair to Bono, it’s important to recognise that many development economists also support the call for more aid, not least Jeffrey Sachs, and we’ll be looking at his precise proposals for aid very soon. The Africa Commission, which of course included several prominent Africans, also called for a doubling of aid.

But there are also many, many voices like yours who feel that aid doesn’t work - and might make matters worse. Pablo lists some useful sources on this front on a previous post.

Over the next few weeks, we’re going to start looking in detail at some of the criticisms of aid, and of those who support it. So please stay tuned!

You’re right, though - for all the doom and gloom, things are getting better in Africa - life expectancy, literacy, all these are improving in many countries - and it’s important not to forget it. Thanks!

I’ll keep an eye out here.