SELLING BOB GELDOF

It isn't just Africa that benefits from Geldof's high profile:

Ten Alps, the programme making and events business of which Mr Geldof is a board director, minority shareholder and occasional TV presenter, said today its pre-tax profits were up fivefold last year, while turnover had more than doubled.

The company delivered more than 50 programmes over the course of the year, including Geldof on Marriage, which was shown on Channel 4 in October. Mr Geldof's daughter Peaches featured in the Sky One documentary Inside the Mind of a Teenager.

Forthcoming projects include Geldof in Africa, a twice-weekly Brook Lapping series for BBC1 that starts on Monday.

Really, it's a self-promotion thing.