An ambitious plan to eradicate tsetse, and therefore tsetse-transmitted trypanosomiases, from Africa was launched at the 36th Organization of African Unity summit meeting (Togo, July 2000) in a bold attempt to re-focus attention on one of Africa's greatest scourges. This plan involves the use of the sterile insect technique to achieve final eradication in areas where the fly is suppressed by more conventional methods (such as traps and targets). In this article, the current aims of this project are questioned on historical, ecological, logistical and financial grounds.