When Didier Drogba scored the only goal of Ivory Coast's African Nations Cup success over Morocco on Saturday, his strike was hailed as a sign of the continent's new-found footballing strength.

One of the world's greatest strikers, who normally plies his trade for Chelsea, one of the world's greatest teams, returning to Africa to lead a side harbouring realistic hopes of success at this summer's World Cup finals.

With the likes of Samuel Eto'o, Michael Essien and Kolo Toure also parading their skills at some of Europe's leading clubs, commentators are starting to suggest that African football could be on the verge of a significant breakthrough.

More significantly, perhaps, they are heralding the continent's footballing development as a rare home-grown success story, an example of Africa helping itself rather than suffering exploitation at the hands of richer and more powerful nations.

Sadly, the reality is somewhat different. If the tale to be told by the likes of Drogba, Essien and Eto'o is a success story at all - and, depending on your viewpoint, that is not a given - then it is not an African one. Instead, it is an all-too-familiar tale of the Western world cherry-picking the best of what the continent has to offer and giving very little back in return.

Eto'o's background, for example, is only African to a point. The Barcelona striker was born in Nkon, Cameroon, in 1981. By the time he was 15, though, he had moved to Spain and signed for Real Madrid and, from that point onwards, he barely set foot in his homeland other than to make sporadic appearances for his national side.

He has developed into one of the richest and most successful sportsmen in the world but, while his fame and fortune should be helping to promote and develop football in Cameroon, the country's domestic game continues to suffer from a lack of both finance and organisation. Even today, if you are a talented young footballer in Cameroon, you do not stay there for long.

Lauren was barely into his teens when he signed for Spanish side Levante, while Ghanaian Essien had only just turned 17 when he joined French club Bastia.

Drogba, the Ivorian hero, has an even more tenuous association with Africa. Born in Abidjan, his family moved to France when he was only five years old and have lived there ever since.

At least he chooses to represent the country of his birth though. Almost a third of the French side that won the 1998 World Cup final were of African descent - Zinedine Zidane, Marcel Desailly, Lilian Thuram and substitute Patrick Vieira - while the current Dutch squad is packed with players of African heritage.

Until African countries are able to retain and develop their own players, Pele's dream of a team from that continent lifting the World Cup remains little more than fantasy.

And, until African players are willing to devote their time and energy to promoting the social and cultural values of the game in their homeland, the positive power of football will be wasted in an area of the world that needs it most.

During the forthcoming fortnight, African football will be celebrating its Drogbas and its Eto'os. The following week, though, it will return to its normal state of chaos and flux.

Domestic leagues will be wound up mid-season because teams have neither the finances nor the personnel to keep going. Communities will continue to crumble because of the lack of a unifying bond to bring them together and economies will fail as some of Africa's highest earners invest their money elsewhere.

All the while, European scouts will continue to flock south to poach the raw materials that will drive their continent's society and economy ever onwards.

A recent Cambridge University study concluded that the wealth of the West was built on African exploitation. Footballers can now be added to the list of food, slaves, gold, diamonds, oil, platinum and copper that has been plundered down the years.