"Ask Not What You Can Do for Africa, Ask What Africa Can Do for You"

I thought that one of the most interesting aspects of President Bush's State of the Union address was his request from Congress to "commit $15 billion over the next 5 years, including $10 billion in new money, to turn the tide against AIDS in the most afflicted nations of Africa and the Caribbean."

Although Bush has been involved in various Africa AIDS initiatives over the past few years, the renewed focus on Africa (most notably the creation of Africom last year) seems to have an obvious impetus.

Perhaps not ironically, Financial Times also ran a full section special report today titled "Africa: Oil & Gas." The first story (of thirteen) is ominously titled "The New Scramble for Africa's Resources."

Here we go again...