Is it possible to re-colonize, but with a bit more humanity? (i.e. Build an economy, provide rule-of-law, and jobs, make it pay for itself, but keep the profits in the country.)
Certainly it is. The question then becomes "Who the hell wants to re-colonize a continent whose rate of AIDS infection is higher than most democrats IQ's, where the local tribal, ethnic and religious differences cause people to simply slaughter each other, and where, for the most part, most regions can only sustain an economy (if ever!)based upon a single commodity?
Because that's a major issue. When your economy is based on coffee, diamonds or oil, that's one thing. When it's dependant on copra, elephant footpads and monkey droppings, it's another.
Here's an interesting idea. Here int he US we're debating the merits oif ethanol. Now on another thread here, someone said that the number of acres required to produce one gallon of ethanol is rather large. So, why don't we recolonize africa, restore the rainforest and use it to fill our gas tanks. After everyone dies of AIDS, Ebola, starvation, dysentery, cholera, beri-beri, leprosy and the heartbreak of psoriasis, there will be nobody to fuss over it.
In fact, that's probably a step towards the solution right there: Africa as bio-diesel supplier top the world...hmmmm...