Because girls' education is less valued, they are the last in and the first out when school fees put household budgets under pressure.There are signs of hope. It is obscene that governments in the region spend more on armaments than on primary education. Meanwhile, the lethal interaction of slow economic growth and rapid population growth has reduced real public spending per child by a third since the 1970s.Under-investment by governments has led to privatisation by stealth. States have transferred the financing burden to households in the form of school fees that poor parents are unable to pay. These inequalities today will translate into ever greater inequalities in income tomorrow.Five years ago, at the UN Social Development Summit, governments postponed their commitment to universal primary education to 2015.

That means that, on current trends, there will be 51 million African children out of school by that date.Conflict and corruption have contributed to the crisis in Africa. Her western counterpart will be in full-time education for 14 years. Millions more start school, only to drop out before gaining basic literacy skills.Contrasts with the industrialised world are striking. An African girl born today in Mozambique or Burkina Faso can expect to receive fewer than three years of poor quality primary education. In Britain, parents complain about the state of school buildings and overcrowded classes. In sub-Saharan Africa, more than 40 million children - almost half of the primary school age group - do not see the inside of a classroom.

But the real problem is that millions of African children are being excluded from even the most basic education opportunities, and internet access is not the answer.The challenge facing Africa is to provide all children with the educational opportunities which will enable them to escape poverty Mr Blair should understand this. His commitment to breaking the link between poverty and education in Britain has a powerful resonance in Africa.The human face of the education crisis in Africa is invisible to the industrialised world. With fewer internet hosts than New York - not to mention the dearth of computers, and even of electricity - Africa faces obvious problems. In a knowledge-based global economy, electronic information is vital.