The UN has nearly 50,000 troops attempting to keep the peace in seven African states.

From the 28 soldiers patrolling the lonely sands of the Western Sahara to the 16,593 troops, 728 military observers and 1,036 police in the forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the United Nations now has vast responsibilities across the continent.

Some, like the operations in Liberia or Sierra Leone are managing the consequences of previous disputes.

Others, like the UN troops on the border between Ethiopia and Eritrea, are attempting to prevent a resumption of war.

Expansion

And there are plans for further operations.

World peacekeeping map

Somalia could have a UN force despatched to it. So could the Central African Republic.

And the UN peacekeepers in South Sudan could be joined by a 20,000-strong hybrid UN - African Union force in Darfur.

While the African Union would like to play a major role in resolving all these conflicts it has too few resources to meet such different and pressing needs.

This leaves the international community to pick up the pieces, while African leaders attempt to find political answers to the continent's intractable disputes.

The UN's Department of Peacekeeping Operations runs these operations, as well as six of what are termed "political and peacebuilding" missions in Africa.

Some are tiny and obscure. How many people have ever heard of the work of UNOGBIS, the 23-strong mission to Guinea-Bissau, which has been in operation since March 1999?

But the UN is doing far more in Africa than just keep the peace.

Other jobs

Its refugee agency, the UNHCR, looks after nearly 2.5 million Africans.

Some refugee camps have been in existence for years, like those housing nearly half a million people in Tanzania, who are only now gradually returning to DR Congo and Burundi.

Others, like those in the deserts of eastern Chad housing the women and children of Darfur, are in the news quite regularly.

Food is brought for them by the UN's World Food Programme via the port in Cameroon and then from Niamey all the way across Chad to arrive at the camps along the Sudanese border in the east.

During the rainy season trucks make their way across the Sahara from Libya.

It is an extraordinary logistical operation, at times running the risk of attacks from bandits and rebels and sometimes supplemented by airdrops.

And it is not just Africa's refugees who rely on the UN.

Its children are vaccinated by the World Health Organization. Its crops are assessed and improved by the Food and Agricultural Organisation. Its cities are planned and maintained with the help of UN Habitat.

The list is endless.

Driving round many African cities one is constantly struck by the blue and white of the UN flags and logos. Its white 4 x 4 vehicles are to be found in the most remote corners of the rural areas.

Frequently one is left with the impression that UN officials know at least as much, if not more, about countries than government ministers, many of whom spend more time nursing their political careers than their constituents.

It is hard to escape the conclusion that if Africa is not being re-colonised by the UN, then it is certainly being run at least as much from New York as it is from most of the continent's capitals.