Botswana, for instance, has gone from 70% literacy to 85% in the past 15 years and has seen steady GDP growth over 5%. Benin's economy has grown in each of the past 12 years, which is better than Europe or the US can say. In 2002, Kenya's life expectancy was 47. Today, it's 63. Ethiopia's per capita GDP has doubled over the past 10 years. And Mauritania has seen its infant mortality rate fall by more than 40%. Now, this progress is spotty and fragile, but it's important to note that these nations have existed, on average, about 13 years less than my dad.