Indefensible or not, that seems to be the unspoken conventional wisdom. We hear Blair and Bush and other leaders talk about the need for western action in Africa yet few seem to realize how patronizing that is. "Oh you poor continent! We'll be down your way to help you again (since you obviously can't manage it yourselves)."
Western interests in Africa are entirely in the realm of economic exploitation. There is little strategic interest in Africa save for Morocco (geography), Egypt (geography), Somalia (geography/terrorism), and South Africa (geography/nuclear weapons). The true western interests are large multinationals which seek to exploit the continent's rich resources and those large multinationals influence western political policy. With the invasion of the Chinese, the west is looking to step-up efforts to continue their control on the monopoly of African resources, not relieve any suffering.
Post-colonial nations were drawn along European guidelines of who used to own what, not what ethnic groups wanted, needed, or considered traditional homelands. Many African nations are comprised of various tribes which may or may not hate each other and this sort of ethnic division is next to impossible to manage without a strongman dictator. Africa has no history of democracy, no real identification with western culture, and its people have no control over the resources the west blatantly and easily rapes the land and exploits the people to get at. These companies back the dictatorships.
I think the one true solution to Africa is to hold a pan-African council comprised of all the ethnic groups and then re-draw the borders of virtually every single country on the continent. Get people where they're supposed to be and then revert to the tribal systems of government however they want it to be. Africa would be a radically different place and each ethnic group would be empowered to guide itself as a sovereign nation. I think the ANC could act as an economic enforcer, properly guided, essentially creating a cartel for African resources to make sure they're exploited properly and that the monies derived from these projects end-up going to the people of their nations and not the latest President-for-Life. It means smashing the western cartels and forcing them to go through an African resources controls scheme.
If you really want Africa to have a chance, we need to shoot ourselves in the foot. No more cheap resources for us! So long as they remain cheap, the west is in control.
