Don't get me wrong - there are parts of Africa I would never go to/back to equally there are some good bits as well.
Out of interest, (genuine question) what's your theory about why some parts of the world revolve around violence and corruption and other parts have managed to put in place a veneer of civilisation?
e.g. Nigeria - should be a relatively prosperous country if over the years it hadn't had to suffer the delights of the likes of Sani Abacha (assuming that what we believe we know about him is true!)
Here's a few stabs:
- general lack of education, so lack of anything above subsistence employment for most;
- corrupt governments / dictators, who siphon off (usually, natural resource wealth). Often helped by greedier "Western" organisations or governments;
(it's generally a quicker fix to dig / drill for something, than to invest in the factories, roads, offices etc that create better employment prospects; not to mention the schools and universities, and healthcare, to look after the prospective employees;
- due to corrupt governance, lack of investment in infrastructure and productive capital, meaning poor general standard of living;
- due to corrupt governance, lack of stable and "just" society, which disincentivises honest entrepreneurial spirit; this means that black market and criminal gangs are the easiest ways to drag oneself out of subsistence existence;
- subjugation of women, rendering half of the potential earning capacity off-limits;
- poor general conditions, corruption, lack of education etc, disincentivises both home-grown and foreign investment.
Installing a "democratic" and benevolent government might seem like a good solution, but this would take generations of investment and fortitude (as the current population wouldn't know any better, and you'd "upset" a whole tier of the corrupt and the criminal).
Just first guesses....