Ten years ago, the UK-government-led Commission for Africa was launched at the British Museum. It coincided with a popular global movement to Make Poverty History in Africa, a revival of Live Aid concerts, and a string of promises from G8 leaders to increase aid to Africa. The Commission encouraged partnership between Africa and the developed world, rather than a relationship of dependency. Is this happening? A decade on, how relevant or necessary is development aid? Is Africa now in a position to be an agent of its own progress?

(Photo: A labourer walks along a metro-line under construction in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa. Credit: Reuters)