ABSTRACT
One of globalization’s most enthusiastic proponents, Tony Blair, has described Africa as a “scar on the conscience of the world”. While much of the developing world has experienced strong economic growth and improved standards of living, Africa, with very few long-term exceptions, has been left behind. Half of the continent’s population lives in poverty; nearly one adult in ten is infected with HIV (in seven countries, one in five is infected); and two out of every five of the world’s wars occur in Africa.2 In many areas, things have been getting even worse: growth in real per capita gross domestic product (GDP) was negative in the region during the 1990s;3 one-quarter of African countries have seen human development indicators deteriorate in recent years;4 and democracy is under threat across the continent, with Zimbabwe, Ghana, Zambia and Kenya the most prominent manifestations of the weakness of democratic institutions.5
