The trouble, Mr. Caplan, is that the numbers you provide don't tell us why there is an imbalance between Africa and the West. My guess is that Africans are not paying a fair price for what they buy from us and we don't give them a fair price for what they sell us.

One hope for Africa is to become more self-sufficient. Return to traditional ways of production, particularly agriculture. Feed Africans first and import the surplus. That will have the added benefit of helping save the planet.