In2000, The Economist ran a cover story about Africa with the headline,"The Hopeless Continent?" This week, Business Week's cover asks, "CanGreed Save Africa?" Both headlines are silly-to say that a continent ofmore than 50 countries and 900 million people is hopeless is, at best,a gross generalization and, at worst, patronizing. As for greed, it'snot going to save anyone, let alone save an entire continent. Butcapitalism and democracy-those forces do seem to be having a positiveimpact in much of Africa, more so than the billions of dollars of aidthat has poured into Africa for decades. That turns out to be theargument made by Roben Farzad whose BW story is worth reading.

Africa'sbeen on my mind this week. On Tuesday, I went to a conference in NewYork convened by IBM called Africa: Open for Business. That's the topicof today's CNNMoney column. On Wednesday, I met with executives of a private equity fund called Emerging Capital Partnersthat invests exclusively in Africa and has done very well. (I'll writeabout them later.) I also spent some time with Paul Faeth of the Global Water Challenge,a NGO that is working on water and sanitation issues in Africa, andheard about how a market-driven approach to providing clean water ismaking some headway. I came away feeling optimistic. There are a lot ofexciting things happening in Africa, few of which make their way intothe mainstream media.

Here's how today's column begins:

Stereotypical images of Africa, as a global backwater plagued by poverty, disease, conflict and corruption, hide some encouraging realities. Democracy has taken root across the continent. The African economy is expanding briskly. So, too, are opportunities for businesses.

That's why IBM announced this week that it's expanding its stake in sub-Saharan Africa. The $91-billion-a-year technology giant will open a research and innovation center in Johannesburg for its biggest business customers. It will donate what it says is by far the most powerful supercomputer in Africa to a nonprofit computing center in Cape Town. Working with the poverty-fighting organization CARE, IBM will roll out a technology platform to reduce the costs of microfinance.

Finally, it will expand a mentoring program at 20 African universities, working with other multinationals, including Cisco and FedEx. Altogether, IBM said it would increase its investment in its African operations by about $120 million over the next two years.

You can read the rest here.