My favorite African story actually happened after I left the country. An American executive took a job over there, and on his very first day, the newspaper headlines read: "Three Headless Bodies Found".
The next day: "Three Heads Found".
The third day: "Heads Don't Match Bodies".
Among old Africa hands, we have a saying, usually accompanied by a shrug: "Africa wins again." This is usually said after an incident such as:
* a beloved missionary is butchered by his congregation, for no apparent reason
* a tribal chief prefers to let his tribe starve to death rather than accepting food from the Red Cross (would mean he wasn't all-powerful, you see)
* an entire nation starves to death, while its ruler accumulates wealth in foreign banks
* a new government comes into power, promising democracy, free elections etc., provided that the freedom doesn't extend to the other tribe
* the other tribe comes to power in a bloody coup, then promptly sets about slaughtering the first tribe
* etc, etc, etc, ad nauseam, ad infinitum.
The prognosis is bleak, because none of this mayhem shows any sign of ending. The conclusions are equally bleak, because, quite frankly, there is no answer to Africa's problems, no solution that hasn't been tried before, and failed."