Geldof in Africa

Occasionally self-agrandizing but nonetheless insightful portrait of a people. It gained great reviews from the UK press, and it is in places brilliant. Slightly self congratulatory though. Monbiot wrote an excellent article here where he quoted:

“Right from the beginning,” says Kofi Mawuli Klu of the Forum of African Human Rights Defenders, “he has acted in his own selfish interests. It was all about self-promotion, about usurping the place of Africans. His message was “shut up and watch me”. Without even understanding the root causes of the problems, he used his role to drown the voices of the African people and replace them with his own. There are many knowledgeable people – African and non-African – who could have advised him, but he has been on his own, ego-tripping.

Nonetheless, Geldof clearly is both knowledgeable and pasionate about Africa and this comes across in his writing.