"Mr Africa"

Spiked looks at the meaning of the current wave of celebrity concern about Africa:

Bono's rise shows the role that Africa plays for many people today. For politicians and celebrities alike, Africa has become a stage for moralistic posturing. Campaigning on African poverty is something that ‘gives me a sense of purpose, something to work for’, as a contributor to Bono’s Vanity Fair puts it. Or as Paul Theroux bitingly argues: "Because Africa seems unfinished and so different from the rest of the world, a landscape on which a person can sketch a new personality, it attracts mythomaniacs, people who wish to convince the world of their worth."

More curled lip here.