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Boris Johnson mistakenly called Africa a country instead of a continent as he spoke at the Tory conference today.

The Foreign Secretary misspoke as he suggested to Conservative Party members that increases in life expectancy in African countries such as Ethiopia could largely be attributed to UK foreign aid spending.

He said: "For all its difficulties, life expectancy in Africa has risen astonishingly as that country has entered the global economic system.

"In 2000, the average Ethiopian lived to only 47 - it is now 64 and climbing; in Zambia the increase has been from 44 years to 60 years.

"In 1990, 37% of the world's population lived in poverty - that is now down to only 9.6% today.

"I think we, with our commitment to 0.7% of our GDP going on development aid, can take the large share of the credit for that achievement."

Mr Johnson said it was our "economic ideas, our beliefs in freedom, our values that continue to lift the world out of poverty".

A written copy of Mr Johnson's speech showed he planned to say "continent" and not "country".