Well Bill I guess someone may be able to produce even a short list of recent British achievements in Africa?
Even in the days of empire many of the decisions and policy made and formulated in London were clearly misdirected, ill-informed or just plain ludicrous. In the colonies which allowed settlers an understanding of things Africa and African was being passed down through the generations.
In Britain today there are no people in policy/decision making or advisory positions who have sufficient knowledge/experience of Africa or any idea just how complex a continent Africa is . (I guess those who may disagree with this statement of mine will be able to provide a list of 'qualified' persons and how they have made a difference).
I would suggest that the methods used by al-Qaeda and other jihadi groups are more effective because once they have 'a foot in the door' through an approach through traditional religious structures are then, once established, able to apply coercion at a level of brutality no civilized country could consider.
The African economies that are growing are either through oil and mineral development of are producing unrealistic growth figures as they are off a very low base.
That said we are talking military and police/security advice support here and none of this helps to grow the economy other than where a peace divident is achieved after a civil or other war.
We could go on...
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