Bob Geldof raises nealy $200m for Africa relief effort

Bob Geldof has helped raise nearly $200m (£125m) for relief efforts in Africa through a private equity fund.

The former Boomtown Rats frontman, who organised the now infamous Live Aid concert in 1985 to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia, fronts a fund for the country called 8 Miles, which deploys money to those in need.

It is now nearing its close, and new figures show it has raised almost $200 since its inception and Geldof hopes Africa's trading industry will be given a boost from the cash.

He tells Reuters: "Currently 80 per cent of exports from Africa are unprocessed raw materials. There's your opportunity: they need manufacturing.

"We need their brains and their muscle power, because we're growing older. They are connected (to the global economy) now and cannot be disconnected."