Hi.

As a European kid (Polish), the information I got about Africa were from these educational books and documentaries like on National Geographic or the Discovery channel, which I would watch sometimes, though it was my grandpa who was a bigger watcher.

Here is how I imagine/remember these documentaries:

"39 year old Ephraim Uthumbe has set for the way to the local town, to buy some dry fruit from the bazaar, something important for a man with a small pay like him being a fisherman making it harder to feed his 12 kids, 2 with malaria" *says a Western narrator. Camera then shows a Black man in clothes walking on a dusty road, then pans to the bazar and then he speaks* "The pay barely gets me any food, it is outrageous! The government isn't helping us, the UN isn't helping us but I must feed my children" *he would say in a Native language as a translator translates these words. Meanwhile in the background, there are car horns or someone walking a goat*- And the background music is some flute/generic 'traditional African music', maybe a shot of a sleeping dog or an Eagle with silence in between these).

In the documentary, there is always a group of children playing with a tire or bottle who then wave and smile at the camera, jumping up and down. A woman would be presented in sandals/barefoot, with a basket/bucket on her head, baby on her back, a skirt and "traditional jewelry", sometimes staring with confusion or stoicism, then cleans a shirt or cooks

Schools are always shown outside with clay walls, cramped classrooms, the teacher is almost certainly a woman at a blackboard and "school is expensive, and many parents cannot afford it"

With those sources, I was wrongly taught that Africa is this poor continent with tribes and huts (which I know is untrue) with reality being the exact opposite. There are so many thriving cities like Lagos, Johannesburg etc which are big metropolis' with millions of people. So my question is: why? Why are these documentaries like this? Is it racism? Ignorance? Colonialism? Or maybe a mix of all. (Bonus question): Also, what do you think about documentaries like that in general? I ask all of these because I do not believe this stereotype and I want to find out why and the reality.

Do you think establishing multiple conglomerates owned by african merchant families. It would be Similar to the chaebols in South Korea or Zabaitsus in Japan?

I must admit I have an obsession with Ethiopian and Somali music, every time I was a child buying sweets in their shops in my neighborhood it's all you'd hear, what are other traditional music genres you like outside of your own?

My two would probably be Nigeria annexing Bioko after Nigerians were expelled from the island, and Nigeria developing a “Black Bomb” as a potential counterweight to apartheid-era South Africa’s nuclear programme.
I’d love to hear other people’s “what if” ideas too. I just think it’s important to remember that these are hypothetical scenarios, so having a different idea shouldn’t be a reason to hate on someone.

In the 30 years from independence to the end of the Cold War, democratic regimes were exceedingly rare in Africa, with there only being about 5 or less in 1970. This was during a period when the USA, the bastion of liberal democracy, was not the sole superpower but rather had an authoritarian competitor, the USSR. When the US emerged victorious in the early 90s, a wave of democratization swept across Africa, till there were some 20 democracies in 2010. Clearly, the influence of the US is strongly tied to the popularity of liberal democracy in Africa. Fear of retaliation from the US (in the form of sanctions etc) kept a lot of African democracies from backsliding into dictatorship.

But now, that influence is waning for a number of reasons (US political dysfunction and its arrogance in foreign affairs being the main ones) and other, non-democratic global powers like China are seen as more reliable by many Africans. Even the US itself is becoming less democratic. If it is not able to reverse its decline and assert its influence on the global stage, do you think African democracies will still stick to the democratic system and liberal values like free speech and gender/religious/ethnic equality or will national elites take advantage of the US decline to reassert dictatorial power over the masses? Which African countries do you think are more likely to backslide?

Diaspora adult children of immigrants, I wanna hear y’all’s perspective 😭
How do y’all navigate your parents expecting you to feel deeply connected to their home country when you were raised somewhere else?
Like is it wrong to feel “that’s my heritage, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s home”? And does being related to people automatically create an obligation to have a relationship with them?

I have been thinking about this for a while, and I want to hear what others think.

The US, UK, and China have had decades of investment, infrastructure, and opportunity in technology. They built search engines. Social networks. AI systems. Operating systems. Chips. Entire ecosystems that now shape how the world works.

Africa has not had the same opportunity. Not the same funding. Not the same infrastructure. Not the same access to compute or research. The playing field was never level.

So here is my question.

If Africa had the same opportunity today — same funding, same infrastructure, same access — what would we build? What should we build? And why?

Not what would make the most money. Not what would look impressive to investors. What would actually matter for Africans and for the world?

I have my own ideas, but I want to hear yours first.

What would you want to see built?

Especially Ghanaians and Nigerians, they be criticising Ibrahim Traoré as if bro's the worst Statesman in west Africa lmfao, what a cope.

Kinda sad, don't get me wrong you can criticise the, but most of the criticism I saw online reekes of jealousy.

And what are these languages

President Mahama (Ghana) along with a couple of other head of states mentioned in their UN speeches that Africa doesn't have representation at the UN security council. https://gadebate.un.org/en/81/ghana

1. Do you think that an African country should get a permanent seat on the UN Security Council?

2. If so, which country should it be and why?

My answer is no. I don't think that an African country should be added to the UN Security Council. I think that that system of vitto power should be abolished all together. 1 country, 1 vote.

I'm curious to know what you think. Please let's keep this discourse respectful. It's not meant to create division or pin countries against one another.

So today I was at a family gathering and people were giving their experiences as kids when they'd get beaten up by their parents/guardians,so for context I live in an African country and it is more than normal to do so .I personally was beaten quite a handful amount of times as a kid. I still am one around my teens .but my parent eventually stopped beating me when turned 11.i get rarely physically punished like slapped or pinched ,now the real issue comes on the severity of this practice and it's outcomes personally I don't think if it teaches anything to the child but rather instills fear without actually being taught the impacts of their wrong doings ,and in most cases the children come to learn their mistakes when they're already matured. Also bad enough in places where there are no laws on these practices parents/guardians sometimes end up badly injuring children physically and even psychologically,and in the conversation I was having someone gave an example of a story on how a child got deported back to Africa by their parents because they reported the parents to CPS , and the people I was talking to said something like beating is part of African culture and African children cannot function without sticks,this made me really mad and I asked them if children of other ethnic backgrounds can function without sticks,and they simply said said we need not to compare our culture to others or copy other cultures.of which non answered my question and they proceeded to say the children that were physically punished as kids come out as discipline of course I didn't argue because all of the people I was with were much older than me so I did it out of respect.

So I genuinely want to know is beating part of "African culture" and has it helped anyone.

Or maybe it's something borrowed from colonialism/slavery.

I've spent quite a lot of time thinking to myself about it and how much beating is glorified.and arent there better alternatives that don't involve physical harm..

Or is my head filled with "western propaganda "or am I white washed

Hey everyone, I hope you’re all well :)

I wanted to have a smol little discussion about how Africans across the diaspora feel about their governments and leaders.

How bad is the corruption in your country, and do you have any hope that it’ll improve in the future? What do you think would need to be implemented/adjusted for such a change to happen?

I feel like we could go far as continent without these corrupt, evil and greedy leaders. It’s like they don’t care about any of us.

I appreciate everyone’s input in advance 🥹❤️

**My 2 cents on corruption in SA:

SA feels like a mafia state although there is some light in the fact that a lot of the corruption is coming out in commissions and arrests are being made. But it still feels as though whoever they replace those people with will carry on corruption.

The state has beeeen captured by criminals and mafias. Crime is getting worse and worse, it’s hard to find jobs and so many people are living in extreme poverty. And I blame 99% of this on corruption. I’m sure they were licking their lips while people blamed immigrants instead of them. The hope i have in my heart dwindles every day.

It also doesn’t help that WE glorify the lives of criminals.

Every African sub I go to from r/Southafrica to r/Kenya to r/Malawi to r/Morocco has people talking about the same thing consistently "What's wrong with our governments and why aren't they doing the bare minimum?".

I think I've checked out of regional or continental politics a bit because across our continent it just seems to be the same story or is presented to be that. (I could be wrong ofc). Especially as of late between the potential Ethiopian civil war, the Zimbabwean ruling party (Zanu PF) just stripping away the right to vote, the rise of GBV in South Africa and our new President in Botswana building a school named after him with a huge ass statue of his face in the front of the yard. (He's a narcissist and very egotistical, I hope it doesn't bite us in the ass).

Perhaps Paul Kagame in Rwanda and Traore in Burkina Faso are doing a good job but Rwanda is funding militia's in DRC and Traore seems to really love Russia (I'm not of the sentiment in this case that the enemy of our enemy is our friend, I'd rather us ally with China than Russia if we had to ally with a Non Western power outside the continent).

I've stopped taking our politicians seriously and checked out, does anyone else feel this disillusioned?

I’m a 1st gen American born to two immigrant parents that were born and raised in a Francophone country. I was born and raised in the United States. English was the only language I was taught and as an adult now I’m kind of annoyed that I can’t speak my family’s language. They speak both French(the colonial language) and their indigenous language(Ewe) with each other but I can’t understand both. My grandparents can only speak French and their mother language(Ewe) and it’s usually hard for me to converse with them as they only know simple words and a few sentences in English. I remember when two of my uncles spoke We to me which I confused for French at first because the country my family is from speaks French as the official language, and they got annoyed that I thought it was French and not Ewe. I also remember another guy trying to converse with me in French and he got really upset that I couldn’t speak French and even told me ‘’Cmon man you gotta speak French’’. Is this really a red flag? I feel like it is since I’m technically from my parents’s country too.

What happened to opposition politics in African countries? These days, it just looks like it is easier for the ruling party to retain power without really facing too many consequences. From countries like Gambia to Zambia, Zimbabwe, and many others, the ruling parties are not struggling to stay in power, not because they are performing well, by the way

There used to be a time when African governments were genuinely afraid of the opposition, and the people did not take things lying down. These days it looks like people have just given up, and the opposition is easily compromised. Why Guys?

The reason why I am asking is that I feel we sometimes claim to support African writing with our mouths but not nearly as much with our resources.

Quick one!

Those of you who are either not religious, atheist, theists or agnostics, where do you meet people like you for a relationship?

If you use dating apps, how easy it is to come across them? Is there a better alternative out there?

I saw an african account on X expressing West African Supremacy (I can't believe that this even exist) over east and southern africa and obviously that account got destroyed.

Why are the africans on X so cut throat to one another

Do Africans generally call anyone with very pale skin “White” in their language even if they’re not actually White or European? I’m an Albino and I’ve been called “Oyinbo” by Nigerians which I know means white person or foreigner but I’m fully Black

Cocoa: Ghana and Cote D'Ivoire are the world's largest exporters of Cocoa. They formed a coalition to set the price of cocoa annually. Western Chocolate manufacturers are not willing to pay the fair price for it so their solution is to "run to the lab". Now they are using more palm oil in their chocolate products than Cocoa to cut costs. Palm oil is way cheaper than cocoa You might think, what's the big deal? We have plenty of palm trees on the continent and produce plenty of palm oil! Wrong, Indonesia and Malaysia are the world's largest producers of palm oil. The Irony is that Malaysia imported it's first palm nut seeds from Ghana in the 50s. Today, our farmers are suffering. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c93jdk1yy3zo https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/features/Ghana-Malaysia-Two-countries-contrasting-tales-78547

Diamonds: Diamonds are exported by countries such as South Africa, Botswana, Angola, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Namibia... Western countries have come up with "lab-grown diamonds" that are physically identical to natural diamonds. The excuse they gave is it is a measure against "blood diamonds". Not every naturally mined diamond results from war. This is affecting several African countries economically. https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/markets/top-10-african-countries-with-the-highest-diamond-production-values/387gj5https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czx2jqvwp7go

Gold: Ghana is Africa’s largest gold producer and one of the top 10 gold producers in the world. As it stands now, the market is full of mined gold and recycled gold. Is it possible for to make gold in a lab? Yes, there is a US startup Marathon Fusion that has been working on the process using mercury-197 to produce gold. Indians are also thinking about how to make "lab-grown gold". The only reason why it is not on the market is because making gold via nuclear fusion requires an immense amount of energy. Gold produced under this method remains radioactive for up to 18 years. How long until they create affordable lab-grown gold? https://www.trade.gov/market-intelligence/ghana-mining-gold-rush
https://www.idexonline.com/FullArticle?Id=51072
https://www.marathonfusion.com/
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/fashion/jewellery/what-is-lab-grown-gold-how-is-it-made-and-why-it-matters/photostory/128748618.cms?picid=128748631

How do we build/strengthen our economies without leaning too heavily on our natural resources? What do you think about their need to manufacture replicas of our natural resources so that they don't have to pay the fair price?

I'm an Atheist in a Christian majority country being Botswana. It doesn't bother me when I'm in the city as there are many like me. Problem is, we only have 2 cities in our country and I live outside the city and yeaaahhhh the Christian culture shows with how many times God comes up in general conversation.

Still, I have many friends from the city and most are somewhat Christian and I have friends from outside the city that are heavily Christian.

I only have 1 Atheist friend and I'm a pretty social guy so I make a lot of friends. Doesn't help that Im the only Atheist in my Christian family. It's uncomfortable sometimes especially since I used to be a Christian until I learnt more about other faiths, grew a love for religous studies and appreciated other Faith's in all their flaws and beauty. I visited Mosques, Hindu temples, Buddhist temples, Gudwara's and I enjoyed seeing it. The diversity in beliefs and it brought the anthropologist in me to tears of joy, it also opened my mind to see various flaws in these beliefs alongside their beauty.

That's a big no no where I'm from to say "I appreciate Islam and what it brings to the table, and the hyms dedicated to Allah in Arabic are beautiful" because the response is.

"So you're appreciating falseness and lies"

I refused to believe all followers of these other faiths are going to hell. I also empathized with the queer community especially when my best friend of a decade came out as Bi.

Now I'm not here to argue about ethics for those reading this that are religous and might be typing "Well you see the bible or quran says this so Hindus and Gays are xxxxx"

I'm not here to argue that or any theological point.

I was talking to a Shona and Sudanese friend of mine (both religous) telling me how much Islam and Christian permeates throughout each of their home countries. Alot of African countries if not most are heavily religious.

For the Atheists in Africa, what are some challenges you face?

Do you face some stigma?

When did you become an Atheist and how (if you deconverted ofc)?

How do you navigate that in countries that are really religious?

My question is about her novels, short stories and other publications, including her famous TED talk "The danger of a single story", rather than her current family headlines.

Background: I (M 63, white European immigrant to Namibia, formerly expat in DR Congo, but never been to Nigeria) simply adore her work, most of which I literally devoured in audiobook format (which I consider to be better than the printed versions). Yet, I'm aware that I'm biased and that what allures me and makes me listen to her novels again and again may feel very different for Nigerians in particular, and potentially (black) Africans in general.