Continued … How does it feel to go to an impoverished part of Africa when you're a multi-millionaire?

"Anyone would feel an enormous sense of guilt going to one of these places - and if you're in a position to do something about it you've got to make an effort," says Sir Richard Branson.

The Virgin boss, who has turned entrepeneurialism into a boy's-own adventure, is increasingly engaged in the serious business of supporting health and education projects in Africa.

And, speaking at his west London home, he spells out the type of extreme hardship caused by HIV and Aids that puts his own financial success into perspective.

"If you go to a hospital in South Africa today, or almost anywhere in Africa, you'll find they're not hospitals, they're places people go to die - and you know that for 30 cents a day for anti-retroviral drugs they could live. Such sights create an irresistible sense of oblivion," he says, and the responsibility to apply the "necessary evil of capitalism" to best advantage.

"And the responsibility for me is to invest in creating new businesses, create jobs, employ people, and to put money aside to tackle issues where we can make a difference."

One way in which he hopes to do this is to set up a health clinic which will serve a 100,000-strong community, aiming to reduce premature deaths from HIV/Aids from 30,000 to less than 1,000.

But in the longer term Sir Richard has been investing in education - including supporting the ground-breaking CIDA University in Johannesburg, South Africa, which provides affordable higher education for poor black youngsters.

This includes the Branson School of Entrepreneurship, which seeks to promote business skills and entrepreneurial flair among students, with the belief that developing successful companies is the way to spread prosperity within South Africa.

The latest effort to extend its reach is the development of a "university in a box", which will take higher education to young people in outlying rural areas who are unable to attend campus-based courses.

There are other projects in the pipeline, says Sir Richard. A few weeks ago he held a meeting in California to plan an African version of the Wikipedia online encyclopaedia.

"We're getting Wikipedia to create an education site for Africa - we want to create free education on the internet. An African living in South Africa might know nothing about Ethiopia or Nigeria."

Another idea in development is to create a rapid-response centre to co-ordinate humanitarian assistance in Africa. This would address immediate problems, such as natural disasters, but would also act as a point of exchange for good practice in health, education and social policy.

As examples, he says this could be practical matters such as sourcing mosquito nets at the best price or strategies for reducing the likelihood of pregnant mothers passing HIV to their babies.

The educational projects in Africa have been met with an enthusiasm that puts to shame the complacency in the UK, he says: "Students will hitch for a thousand miles to get to college."

But in teaching young people about entrepreneurship, there has to be an accompanying message of social responsibility, he says.

"A generation ago, the image was that you had to trample everyone else down to succeed - but I don't believe that makes good business sense. If you're the kind of person that jumps down the throat of people, you're not going to be successful."

The downside is that everyone with an idea wants to pitch his business plans to Richard Branson.

"I'm pitched at non-stop. But I would have done the same myself." And this, he says, is the reason for his perma-smile - the result of his longstanding efforts to look politely interested.

At close-quarters, he is as relaxed, tanned and tireless as his public image might suggest. But despite his rocket-boy, planes and champagne image, he talks about the early Virgin days when there was so little cash that he hid behind a chair, pretending not to be in, when there were demands for unpaid parking fines.

But if being broke had its problems, now being so wealthy raises its own different set of questions.

Comments:

It's great to see someone with fame and wealth recocogise the responsibility that we all have to those people less fortunate than we are. People like Richard Branson and Bill Gates recognise their responsibility and are prepared to use their fame and wealth to help poorer people. Jason, Bristol

I think this guy is up to something good. Let's give him a chance to prove his worth. And from there we can draw our conclusion. Aaron Irone Phiri, Lusaka Zambia.

I happened to be filming Richard once when a random person came up to him and asked him for a job... most people in his position would just ignore them or make some comment and get on with what they were doing .... Not him, he stopped what he was doing, gave the woman the name and number of his PA .... and told her to drop a cv in and he would personally look at it. Matthew, UK

All I can say is well done to Sir Richard and his ilk. Let us all in our own ways, whether small or large follow suit. Darry Abrahams, Ascot

Sir Richard's virtuous philanthropy probably makes him happier than anything else he does. The only way to seek happiness in life is to pursue virtue, as was already known to the ancient Greeks 2,500 years ago. We should all be doing it. Martin, London

Philanthropy is fine, but you don't have to go abroad to find people living in poverty. There are too many here. Alan, London

By Sean Coughlan, BBC News Magazine, Wednesday, April 26th , 2006