5 BS Facts About Africa Some Still Think Are True

I know most of you might wonder, “why such a topic in this day and age of technology where information is readily and easily available”? I have also been lured into believing that, this is a topic that should long be dead. However, sometime last week, my hangout window popped out with a question from someone who apparently has been reading my blog. He wanted to know where I am from. “Ghana in Africa”, I told him! He still wanted to know if I was located there. I told him to check my G+ profile if he has any doubts. Apparently, he was surprised at the eloquence with which I wrote and so doubted if I wasn’t located in Europe or somewhere outside Africa. This and a gamut of similar events from the not too distance past, prompted me to write on this topic. I do really appreciate my readers and love such questions so I decided to put some facts straight.

1.      AFRICA IS ONE COUNTRY

 

AN AFRICAN MAP WITH COUNTRIES

NO, NO, NO to the effing no; excuse my language, please!! Very often when I watch the international news, I find that newsreaders sub-consciously bundle Africa together as ‘one country’ so for example when something negative is happening in say Ghana, the news presentation always finds a subtle way to portray it as if it’s happening in a ‘country called Africa’. The country Ghana is hardly isolated from the rest. For heaven’s sake, there are 54 independent and sovereign countries in Africa, each and everyone with its good, bad and ugly. As much as I would have loved to see Africa as one country, the fact is that it is not so next time you watch the news and get that impression, kindly train your mind to isolate that particular country and know that it’s probably far from Egypt or Kenya?

2.      AFRICA IS THE POOREST CONTINENT

Not true! If you doubt the wealth that Africa possesses, read this article (https://jica-ri.jica.go.jp/publication/assets/TICAD_Africa_2050-Chapter7-v2.pdf). It is true that some form of domestic corruption in collaboration with external manipulation has rendered the benefits from these resources redundant but that does not mean Africa is necessarily poor. It only implies that Africa remains under-developed and that, there is no where on earth currently with the best prospects and opportunities for development.  

3.      THE PEOPLE STILL LIVE IN THE CAVE AGE

 

A MODERN CAVE IN GHANA

Now this is a very funny one but true. There are people who still believe that Africa is a jungle where the people are uncivilized, diseased, live in caves and walk around half naked in raffia skirts. I know this would be hard for most of you to believe but here’s a true story. A few years back when I used to work as a hostel manager, where most of the guests were first time visitors to Africa, there was this particular first timer who I went to meet at the airport. She asked this funny question on our way to the hostel: “and you actually have an airport”?  My exact answer: “No, you were supposed to put on a parachute and land on trees so what happened”? Funny, but we became good friends and when I pried deeper, I got to know that her family had seriously discouraged her from visiting Africa because of some the reasons I have already stated. Infact, when she made her first call the next day to her parents, they did not believe she was calling from Africa. Then she decided to email photos to friends and family and that even made it worse. They said she was a liar and that she was probably holidaying somewhere in New York because this just can’t be Africa, can you believe this? Well, guess what, Africans also live in beautiful buildings and have a modern sense of fashion also, as if it matters, lol!

4.      EVERYONE  IS LAZY

 

A KENYAN FARMER AT WORK.

You have got to be kidding me?? What, there are no pan-handlers on the streets of Europe and America (anyway, I hear it’s a very lucrative venture in Canada, lol, forgive me my lovely Canadian friends)? There is an old African proverb which most Africans live by and it goes like this: "there is no food for a lazy man"Africans are probably one of the most hard-working people alive despite the hand-to-mouth earnings. Thumbs up to the young and innovative youth coming up with various technological ideas, the incorruptible public servants who ensure that the systems function right, the farmers who sweat it out in the hot sun to feed every household and the hardworking mothers who sweat it out in the sun to make sure the family is well fed. Now does that make everyone lazy?

5.      AFRICANS FROM A PARTICULAR PART ARE ALL SCAM ARTISTS

Now forgive me if I am a bit harsh because I take this one personally. I have repeatedly said that technology has made this world a small place. I really do enjoy building networks around the world with every willing soul for our mutual benefits. Being online is the best and free market one can get in promoting any venture. However, I have lost some great opportunities for networking only because I am perceived as a scam artist once people know where I come from. Of course I have made some great connections as well. I can hardly blame anyone for this because we all have our experiences but NOTE; there are more genuine people from Africa than you have been made to believe. I do accept that, there are scam artists out there but it would be ridiculous to tag every African as a scam artist because of one or two experiences or because of stories you have heard. Take your time, get to know people and if you do some smart and intelligent background checks, you would be able to easily determine who is a scam artist and who is not.

There you go good people. Africans are like anyone else in the world. There is no perfect place or human being alive so if you’re traveling to Africa and have any doubts, I hope this piece would help you calm down. If you have any contrary view or experience, feel free to share in the comment session.