Aid for Africa - The richest countries must do more

ZIMBABWE is not the only place in Africa where election results do not mean a change in leadership.

Chad’s President Idriss Déby is the latest in a line of dictators to preside over the world’s fifth poorest nation. When he came to power in 1990 it was hoped that he would encourage democracy and build his country’s economy for the benefit of all its citizens but, as in so many tragic instances on that beautiful but impoverished continent, power did indeed corrupt.

The central African country is rich in gold and uranium and has just become an oil-exporting state and may be in a position to reap the benefits from soaring oil prices — yesterday oil cost over $135 (€86) a barrel.