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By Andrew Cawthorne

NAIROBI, May 10 (Reuters) - He may have lost the affection of the British public, but Tony Blair can still count on plenty of friends around Africa.

The outgoing prime minister is warmly viewed by many Africans for doggedly forcing their issues up the global agenda, particularly when Britain chaired both the European Union and the G8 group of rich nations in 2005.

Having called Africa's problems of poverty, disease, trade injustice and conflict "a scar on the world's conscience", Blair also earned plaudits for some specific interventions like sending troops to pacify Sierra Leone.

"He is increasingly unloved in his own country, but he still has a great rapport with Africa," said Patrick Smith, editor of UK-based Africa Confidential newsletter. "Some of his early actions in Africa symbolise the high point of his premiership. Some regard Sierra Leone as perhaps his single finest moment."

As opposed to the Iraq debacle, Blair's action in the west Africa nation -- where British troops in 2000 helped defeat rebels notorious for hacking off limbs in drug-crazed killing sprees -- was hailed as a model of humanitarian intervention.

"The average Sierra Leonean is very grateful to the role played by the British in the war, albeit that it was a little bit late," said Sierra Leonean businessman Vincent Kanu, 61.

Despite Blair's laudable intentions for Africa, strongly rooted in his Christian beliefs as well as his Labour Party's socialist roots, analysts say delivery has fallen short.

While Blair and fellow campaigners achieved cuts in Africa's debt burden, the huge increases in aid announced in 2005 have yet to materialise and global trade rules remain unfair.

"Tony Blair has shown personal commitment to fighting poverty, leading Europe and the G8," said aid agency Oxfam's head of advocacy Jo Leadbeater, citing debt relief in Zambia, British health aid in Malawi and education aid in Tanzania.

"But Blair's legacy is ultimately dependent on getting all the G8 countries to fulfil the promises they made in 2005."

MUGABE HAPPY TO SEE BLAIR OFF

Furthermore, despite repeated appeals and efforts, Blair has failed to mobilise a good enough international response to Sudan's Darfur crisis to make a real difference on the ground.

And the Iraq factor still weighs heavy in Africans' judgment of Blair. "He got people thinking about Africa and that is good," said Kenyan teacher Paul Nyeko, 30. "But Iraq was wrong. All the money it cost could have saved people."

There is one place Blair would certainly not be welcome to relax after the rigours of a decade in office -- Harare.

Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe has vilified Blair with a litany of insults including "white supremacist" and "born-again imperialist" for leading international opposition to his government. At a rally last month, Mugabe supporters celebrated Blair's imminent departure from office with a huge placard reading: "We will see Blair's back!"

Elsewhere, however, allies like Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, or South Africa's past and present leaders Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki remain warm to Blair.

Despite differences over Iraq, neither Mandela nor Mbeki used public platforms to criticise Blair, preferring instead to direct hostility at U.S. President George W. Bush.

In north Africa, Blair brought about a rapprochement in Britain's relations with Libya following years of estrangement largely as a result of the 1988 Lockerbie plane crash.

As Blair prepares to resign on June 27, Africans are now turning their attention to his successor Gordon Brown. The Scot also has a strong track record of speaking up for the continent and was instrumental in some of the debt deals. (Additional reporting by Andrew Quinn in Johannesburg, William Maclean in Algiers, Orla Ryan in Accra, Pascal Fletcher in Dakar, Chris Chinaka in Harare, Katrina Manson in Freetown, Jeremy Smith in Nairobi)

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