In their 2006 book "IQ and Global Inequality," Richard Lynn and Tatu Vanhanen estimated that the 19 nations of sub-Saharan Africa all have mean national IQs in the range between 59 and 73. In contrast, the authors estimated that the six East Asian nations all have average IQs in the range between 105 and 108, while European and European-derived nations all have mean IQs in the range between 92 and 102.

According to Lynn and Tatu, significant correlations with higher average national IQ exist for a number of factors, including GDP per capita.

The claim that genetic differences are, in the very least, partially responsible for the post-colonial developmental gap between East Asian and sub-Saharan African countries may be a controversial argument but it is not one that can be easily dismissed.

"Let's put this into some sort of perspective. In proportion to population this is equivalent to Australia suffering a million deaths in a civil was. Imagine a war in Australia in which 5% of people are killed."

No doubt its a rough place to live but war alone cannot explain Africa's lack of development. Most European countries suffered far greater losses as a percentage of their populations in WWII and still managed to recover within a decade of the war's conclusion.

For instance, the Soviet Union lost around 14% of its population in WWII, while Germany lost around 10%, Yugoslavia lost around 11% and the Poles lost over 16%!