> isn't sub-Saharan Africa still
> largely in the condition Europe was 1000 years ago (plus call phones)?
That's the mainstream media stereotype, but the reality is Africa has undergone enormous social change over the past 50 years -- urbanization, mediatization, the spread of literacy and electoral democracy, etc. But don't take my word for it -- check out the films of Ousmane Sembene and Djibril Mambety, the music of Fela Kuti and Baaba Maal, the novels of Wole Soyinka and Aima Aidoo.
-- DRR