I'm not sure how I feel about this...

The French government is considering introducing a special lottery for Africa to supplement development aid.

"It could be bingo for Africa, or a lotto," said the French Secretary of State for Co-operation, Alain Joyandet.

It depends what you think of gambling, and what you think of development aid, I suppose.  On the former, I guess that old folks' bingo money might as well be going to a good cause, though it would pretty much undo the benefit if obsessive lotto players are being impoverished to help un-impoverish Africans.  On the development side...well, I'd be interested to see what Chris Blattman and Bill Easterly would think of this scheme...

(image from flickr user klynslis under a Creative Commons license)