Former British prime minister Tony BlairBOB STRONG/Reuters
It is little surprise, in an ever-faster-moving world, that few of the leaders who took part in the Group of Eight summit at Gleneagles in 2005 are still in place. We have moved on or, in some cases, were politely asked to move on by our electorates.
But the commitments made and the ambitions set were neither short-term nor personal. Our long-term goal was to help Africa make the most of its rich potential through increased support from the wealthiest countries, coupled with fundamental reform within the continent. These hopes reflected the insistent demands of many millions of our citizens to do something about the gross injustices disfiguring our world.
Five years after Gleneagles, how does progress measure up to these ambitions? The picture is generally promising, as this week's report from the Africa Progress Panel highlights.
Increases in donor aid and debt relief, while not at the level promised, are helping save lives and increase opportunities. Overseas aid is far from the sole answer to Africa's challenges but, as we recognized at Gleneagles, it has to be part of the solution.
Targeted aid has helped deliver remarkable progress in extending education. There is much more to do, but well over half of the continent's countries are on track to achieve universal primary education by 2015.
Democracy has taken firmer root on many parts of the continent. Last year's peaceful transfer of power in Ghana, where the result could hardly have been closer, was an example not just to other African countries.
The continent's economies have also shown themselves to be resilient. Growth was remarkably strong before the global financial crisis hit the continent. But recovery is already under way, more quickly and more strongly than expected.
This resilience is due partly to the increased engagement of new partners such as India, Brazil and, in particular, China. Between 1999 and 2008, the value of trade with China increased 15-fold. Where investors once might have seen problems with Africa, they now see commercial opportunities. It is the new economic frontier.
This is a hugely important and welcome development. It is sustained economic growth that will enable Africa to overcome its challenges, tackle poverty and extend opportunity. With Africans expected to account for one in four of the global work force by 2050, this is vital for all of us.
But this also places new demands on the continent's governments. They have to create the environment in which the private sector, both domestic and foreign, can flourish. They must ensure that their relationships with new and traditional partners are ones in which both sides share in the benefits. Above all, they have to be willing to, and capable of, translating this growing prosperity into real improvements in the lives of their citizens.
We can all point to well-known examples where these conditions are not being met. We do no one any favours by turning a blind eye to the corruption, conflict and abuses that are still too common.
But there are other, more powerful examples of African governments rising to the immense challenges in front of them. Few countries have endured a more tragic recent history than Rwanda. But its progress over the past 15 years, as I have seen for myself through the work of my Africa Governance Initiative, is startling. A reform-minded government has created the conditions and confidence for private investment to work in partnership toward shared goals. Sustained economic growth is, in turn, being used to deliver real improvements and hope for all Rwandans.
But getting this right is not just a question of vision or political will. It is also about capacity. Even the most able, well-intentioned and determined leader needs support. This is where my Africa Governance Initiative comes in - working with pro-reform leaders to put in place the capacity that will allow them to deliver the poverty reduction and economic development their people rightly demand.
We have seen time and again how natural disasters can tax governments in the most stable, well-run and developed countries. In countries such as Liberia and Sierra Leone, years of conflict have left the machinery of government almost fatally weakened.
We need to step up efforts from within and outside the continent to build up capacity and capability. It is up to Africa and its people to find solutions to their own challenges, but the deafening message from that global grassroots campaign before Gleneagles was the rest of the world's obligation to help.
The names of the leaders may have changed, but the obligation remains. So, too, does the reward, of a more peaceful and prosperous world if we rise to the challenge.
Tony Blair is a former prime minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. He is a member of the Africa Progress Panel and founder of the Africa Governance Initiative.