Some interesting remarks at Ross Parker about his time at the Development Studies Association conference this past weekend, as well as the absurdities of said conference in regards to development in Africa. Ross raises many sentiments to which I wholeheartedly agree ...

Africa is not a vacant lot. Development is achieved best in the first person. The continent is not there to be "energised" or (far less) to be "rescued from poverty" - both phrases I have heard today. The people of Africa have the capacity and the drive to lay out what they want and to work towards those goals, with or without the well-meaning wonks.

The West's role, so far as it has one, is to stop nannying Africa and to start treating the continent as an equal, if improverished, friend. We should help our friends find good jobs. We should protect them from being ripped off by unscrupulous landlords. When there is a crisis, we might let them stay the night on our sofa. What we shouldn't do is to give them a room in the attic and let them do our housework for an allowance, while their career prospects become the claret-fuelled talk of our dinner parties.

In other African development news and information:

Africa Unchained takes a look at the Lady Mechanic Initiative in Nigeria.

My Heart's in Accra digs into Pronto Condoms in South Africa and their marketing campaigns.

And on the other end of the spectrum, this gasper ... "You know, I always think that I'm a hero medically if I tell people, 'You must quit smoking; it's going to kill you,'" says the physician. "And I don't wish to be vulgar about it, but I don't sort of say, 'Well, you can use a filter tip.' We know it kills you," he continues. "[But] to tell people that they should use a condom is just wrong."

Dirty water kills 5,000 children per day worldwide. So about two 9/11's per day worldwide because of unsanitary water. Where's the war on that?

Scots look to build health services in Malawi.

Some bad EQ ... London School of Economics researcher revives controversy by saying Africa's problems are because of low IQ.

Invest in infrastructure and higher education says Calestous Juma.