Asia advances – Africa keeps on going backwards

Myanmar’s latest stumbling steps towards openness and democracy mean there are really only three hell-holes left in Asia – North Korea run by a fat freak who will probably follow his father’s example and starve millions of his own people to death so that he can eat well and live in luxury; Pakistan run by its ludicrously corrupt president “Mr Ten Percent”, a country that is our enemy and which uses British aid money to buy weapons for Afghan freedom fighters which are then used to kill and maim our troops; and Bangladesh a rotten, corrupt cesspit with no hope.

But in Africa any progress is much more difficult to see. The two Sudans are starting yet another war; Senegal’s corrupt judges laughably permitted the former president to run for a third term in office even though the constitution limited presidents to two terms, fortunately this crook lost; South Africa is ridden with corruption, incompetence and poverty and is ruled by a buffoon; most other countries are run by a kleptocratic elite who pillage all their countries’ resources while keeping their people in grinding poverty; Nigeria would be one of the richest countries in the world if its leaders hadn’t stolen most of its wealth and moved it into offshore bank accounts; the Horn of Africa is yet again having a famine; and repeated UN studies have shown that out of every £100m we give in aid to Africa over £90m is lost due to corruption and incompetence.

We should be happy that most Asian countries have realised that development is better than kleptocracy. We should probably give up on Africa – a continent whose leaders’ greed and stupidity have condemned it to remain a hell-hole for almost all its people.