I'm glad the consensus is the World Leader Coldplay Fanclub - AKA the G8 - will listen to this. I mean, it's good to raise awareness and all, but I'm pretty sure it'd have been wiser to say 'We believe poverty needs to be ended, please give it due consideration; look how many people agree.', but that doesn't get as much attention as 'Lots of people are dying, follow this largely unworkable and damaging economic prescription! From musicians!'

Aid won't help, debt cancellation won't help, trade might help, but really the only way to sort Africa out is to go in there ourselves and take control. Unfortunately, that would likely make Viet Nam look like a picnic. Nevermind the protesters. As it is, I do have at least some hope that the commitment to only helping reforming governments might help a little, but yeah, it's largely ineffective self-aggrandizement and guilt abjuration.