West casts shadow over Africa's development

After the unbearable heat of Ethiopia, I ended my trip to Africa in Egypt, where it was raining and comfortably cool almost every day.

The contrast between the two countries goes far beyond weather. Ethiopia is a land-locked country with vast highland region in the interior while Egypt enjoys a long coastline and is the gateway to Europe, North Africa and West Asia.

As one of the poorest countries in Africa, Ethiopia's per capita GDP is just one-sixth that of Egypt. In Ethiopia taxis are still donkey or horse-pulled carts in some regions, while in Egypt secondhand cars from Europe or Japan are used for that purpose.