Though there are a few bright spots, the overall African situation still looks decidedly grim.

Several countries on the continent are convulsed by troublesome insurgencies. Six more are heavily involved in a Congolese war. Moreover Ethiopia and Eritrea are taking time to lick their wounds in the aftermath of a long, bloody conflict.

And several countries that may have escaped military grief are embroiled in very serious economic difficulties. Perhaps up to half of sub-Saharan Africa's 600 million people eke out an existence on about 65 cents a day.

In terms of leadership, Zimbabwe's President Mugabe is now being called Africa's Mussolini by some observers as he takes his people further and further down the road to fascism. A few politicians in Britain are even calling for Zimbabwe's expulsion from the Commonwealth.

This is the ugly picture that high officials of the World Bank had to face as they recently toured African countries. The question is: Who will mend Africa? The current scenario seems beyond human solution.

Sources: The Economist, The Daily Telegraph (London).