If there's on thing holding the developing world back, it's pessimism and acceptance of the current order (corruption, poverty) as the way things always will be. I see the same here in Bulgaria (we don't have widepread hunger or illiteracy, but being the poorest member of the EU isn't fun).
The trend for the last 200 years has been a general increase in wealth. Of course this started with nations which were reasonably technologically advanced and wealthy already (UK, France etc.), but since WW2 this has extended to former colonies and other underdeveloped nations. One need look to Japan, South Korea or Taiwan to see how a nation can grow from basically nothing (SK's GDP per capita in the '60s was typical for many African countries) to an economic powerhouse. Latin America, Asia, Eastenr Europe, we're all getting wealthier and catching up to the West.
We just need to not give up and believe in a brighter tomorrow.