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Africa, in my native Kasese, it’s the magnificent glaciers running down the Mountains of the moon; the marauding roars of the famous climbing lions resting up a tree in the wilderness of Queen Elizabeth National Park; for others, it's a mirage shimmering on the horizon of the arid Sahara Desert. In Uganda, just close your eyes and imagine the thunderous waters of the River Nile, indeed the undisputed Pearl of Africa – for anyone who knows the meaning, Africa is Uganda and vice versa.

It's also a powerful word—one that speaks of adventure and exploration, corruption and poverty, ‘dirty’ politics and dictators, nature wonders and unrivaled weather, freedom and mystery. For 1.2 billion people, the word "Africa" is also synonymous with the word "home"—but where does it come from?

Among many theories like The Phoenician Theory, The Weather Theory, The Africus Theory, The Geographical Theory; The Roman theory being my favorite, I believe that the word "Africa" indeed  came from the Romans, who named the land they discovered on the opposite side of the Mediterranean after a Berber tribe living in the Carthage area (now modern-day Tunisia). Later, this could have become contracted to form the single word "Africa".

The word “Africa” is an evocative one that conjures up different images for different people. For some, it's an ivory-tusked elephant standing before the snow-capped peaks of Mount Kilimanjaro.

Other sources have suggested that “The ancient name of Africa was Alkebulan. Alkebulan “mother of mankind” or “garden of Eden”. Alkebulan is the oldest and the only word of indigenous origin. It was used by the Moors, Nubians, Numidians, Khart-Haddans (Carthaginians), and Ethiopians.

Long before humans were around (the early Mesozoic Era) Africa was joined to the other continents in a massive continent called Pangaea. Over millions of years this huge continent broke apart shaping the world landscape as we know it today.

There are 54 countries and one “non-self-governing territory”, the Western Sahara, in Africa. All of Africa was colonized by foreign powers during the “scramble for Africa”, except Ethiopia and Liberia. Before colonial rule Africa comprised up to 10,000 different states and autonomous groups with distinct languages and customs.

Africa is the most interesting and diverse continent on the earth. It is the home of an incredible variety of people, animals, climates, and spectacular places. It is a country known for its beautiful colorful clothing and its history of incredible works of art. Africa is where human beings first appeared on earth and the home of the world's first great civilization, The Pharaonic civilization of ancient Egypt which dates to 3300 BC.

The question of race globally has left yet another disputed terrain that has become a dominant category for uniting and dividing people in modernity. A case in hand, within the race debate, ancient Egypt has become a terrain contested by three mutually exclusive views:

Modern Egyptians: the ancient Egyptians are the same group of people as the modern Egyptians. Afrocentric: the ancient Egyptians were black Africans, displaced by later movements of people, for example the Macedonian, Roman and Arab conquests. Eurocentric: the ancient Egyptians are ancestral to modern Europe.

The above dates back to the human catastrophe of early modern slavery juxtaposed west and central Africans with northwest Europeans in the Americas. Out of this genocidal experience, the above divisions were quite inevitable.

It is also believed that the first human was dark skinned. The oldest human remains ever discovered were found in Ethiopia. They are approximately 200,000 years old.

All modern humans share a common ancestor who lived around 200,000 years ago in Africa. Comparisons between known skin pigmentation genes in chimpanzees and modern Africans show that dark skin evolved along with the loss of body hair about 1.2 million years ago and that this common ancestor had dark skin.

Despite all the above, however in my opinion I do not think that in this modern era humans should still be divided along racial lines of any magnitude. We should view the world from the same vintage point; it should be a simple global village. Skin color is mere melanin, nothing else. God created our skin tones with a beautiful variety, but all of our souls are the same color. Just like American Activist Alveda King said “Racism springs from the lie that certain human beings are less than fully human. It's a self-centered falsehood that corrupts our minds into believing we are right to treat others as we would not want to be treated”.

Undoubtedly, colonialism is still going on, characterized by, for instance today’s modern slavery in form of human trafficking that has been witnessed in Libya in recent times.  And Authors like Michael Perraudin, Jürgen Zimmerer had sounded the war drums many years back in 2011 having been quoted to say “As post-colonial studies have shown, colonial engagement neither began nor ended with formal colonial rule”.

It is plainly in black and white that people during the colonial times, those in colonized countries were perceived to be ‘in need of cultivation and civilization’ whereas since independence, people in former colonies continue to be ‘in need of development’ equating back squarely to neocolonialism. ‘Helping’ always implies to a power structure. They have created structures of dependency in Africa and kept global power structures strategically in place.

This ‘help’ always comes as development aid, but it has been proven beyond reasonable doubt that “many rich nations receive more in interest payments from recipient countries than they give in 'aid'”  Kenan Malik a British prominent writer is quoted to have said in 2018. So as a system, so far foreign aid is a dupery or more so a hoax and does nothing for inequality.

Food for thought: After years and billions of money spent in Africa as development foreign aid, why are there still very many poor people in Africa? Let’s be fair.

Over time now, Africa has been used as a dumping site for the Western world. According to Oxfam, more than 70% of the clothes donated globally end up in Africa. For instance, secondhand clothing donations are creating a dilemma for my neighboring Kenya. The resale of charity shop rejects has destroyed the local textile industry but a proposed ban on the importation of used garments risks putting thousands out of work.

Africa has also had a very unfair representation of Developing Countries by development projects. It’s always the worst news that they pick from Africa to take back home; shoot videos and take photos from the worst scenes to simply portray the beautiful continent as the worst from end to end. This has created very negative stereotypes world over about Africa and advanced the ‘white savior Complex’ mission or image.

The focus on things going wrong is particularly harmful because of the relative dearth of other widely accessible sources of knowledge about the continent.

The system of storytelling on Africa is too often incomplete, stereotyped - and specious.

For example, reports on conflict in some African countries seem to give the impression that all of Africa is at perpetual war; isolated epidemic outbreaks in some African countries are usually magnified to give the entire continent a steadily escalating sense of foreboding.

So what could possibly inform a collective identity for such a vast and diverse part of our world? Historically, much of the African identity has been not so much about what we are, but what we are not.

More than a billion people live in Africa. There are more than 3,000 distinct ethnic groups; more than 2,000 languages are spoken.  Africa population is equivalent to 16.72% of the total world population that’s according to the latest United Nations estimates as of Sunday, November 24th. 2019. Nigeria is the most populated country with over 145 million people, Algeria is the largest country by area, and Lake Victoria in Uganda is the largest lake in Africa and the world’s second largest fresh water lake.

The east African nation of Uganda has the largest number of lakes (69) among the African countries. Uganda's lakes account for about 10% of the total number of lakes on the continent.

The northern most point in Africa is Ras ben Sakka in Tunisia in North Africa. The most southerly point is Cape Agulhas in South Africa.

Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania is the highest point in Africa. It tops out at 19,340 feet above sea level.

Africa is also home to one of the world’s longest waterways; River Nile, the father of African rivers is not only the longest river in Africa but also in the entire world. It’s famed for its ancient history and archeological sites along its shores. It has its source in Uganda; it starts from Jinja, rises from Lake Victoria flowing 6,650 kilometers northwards through north eastern Africa to drain into the Mediterranean Sea in Egypt.

Actually, the lower part of the Nile gave rise to early Egyptian civilization and is still home to the great Pyramids and Sphinx of Giza near Cairo.

Not only a home to the longest but also to the deepest water ways globally, is the Congo River the deepest river in the world, reaching more than 750 feet in depth. It is also ranks ninth longest river in the world and runs through the second largest rain forest in the world. The volume of water discharged by the Congo River is second to the Amazon River.

Just a little more than one year after the first Congo War, the second phase of the war kicked off in the Democratic Republic of Congo, on 2nd August 1998 and lasted until 18 July 2003 – that explains the sounds of a gun in my neighborhood  for six years, as a neighbor from the far western Uganda – Congo border in my ancestral district of Kasese, the unending sound of the gun, fear and trauma written all over the faces of an influx of refugees pouring in from across was and will remain in my childhood memories forever.

This second Congo War holds a record of being the deadliest war in the world since World War II. Though not something me and Africa are proud of, this brutal war which involved nine African countries and about twenty armed groups, claimed 5.4 million people – the second highest number of causalities after the Second World War.

Religion in Africa is multifaceted and has been a major influence on Art, Culture and Philosophy.

Arguably Christianity is the largest religion alongside Islam and is the largest religion in Sub-Saharan Africa. Today the continents various populations and individuals are mostly adherent of Christianity and Islam and to a much lesser extent several traditional African religions. More still, in Christian or Islamic communities, religious beliefs are also sometimes characterized with syncretism with the beliefs and practices of ancient traditional religions. Africa encompasses a wide variety of traditional beliefs. Although religious customs and norms are sometimes shared by many local societies; they are usually unique to specific populations or geographic regions. For instance all traditional religions are united by a shared animistic core with special importance to ancestral worship.

A Nigerian author, scholar, educator and writer Dr. J.O Awolalu explained that the “traditional” in this context means indigenous, that which is foundational, handed down from generation to generation, meant as to be upheld and practiced, now and forevermore.   A heritage from the past yet not treated as a thing from the past but that which connects the past and the present with eternity.

This is often spoken of in the terms of a singularity, deliberate; yet conscious of the fact that Africa is a huge continent with multitudes of many nations who have complex cultures, innumerable languages and myriad dialects

The essence of the above school of thought is based mainly on oral transmission; that which is written in peoples hearts, minds, oral history, customs, temples and religious functions. It has no leaders like Jesus, Mohammed or Gautama Buddha. It has no missionaries or even the intent to propagate or to proselytize.

Africa being the second largest continent on earth, approximately 11.7 million square miles.

Sudan is Africa's largest country (968,000 square miles).

It's a huge continent: the US, China, India, Europe and Japan combined could all fit into Africa.

Africa straddles the equator and is the only continent to extend from the northern temperate zone to the southern temperate zone. The equator line is just under 25,000 miles long, it passes a total of only thirteen countries worldwide and half of those are African countries that include Uganda, Gabon, Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya and Somalia. Interestingly, it passes my ancestral home town of Kasese in the far Western Uganda before crossing to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

With deserts and dry lands covering 60% of land surface area for example Kalahari, Sahara and Namib, Africa is without a doubt the hottest continent on earth. It’s also the second driest continent (after Australia). 

Africa has the world's largest hot desert, the Sahara, and its largest overall after Antarctica and the Arctic. Its area of 9.2 million square kilometers is very comparable to the area of china or United States of America. Spanning nearly a third of the African continent, the Sahara reaches a total of eleven countries. These include Egypt, Algeria, Chad, Libya, Niger, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia, Western Sahara and Sudan. Interestingly, Sand dunes and sheets cover only 25 % of the Sahara’s actual surface though they can reach over 180 meters in height. The desert has other numerous land features like salt flats, plateaus, gravel plains and surprisingly even mountains where snow has been recorded. Remember this is a place where the average annual temperature is 30ºC, exceeds 50ºC during the hottest moths and highest ever has been recorded at 58 degrees centigrade in Aziziyah, Libya.

Despite its large size with largest dunes in the world, it’s home to only 2.5 million people precisely because it’s one of the harshest environments in world.

Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania is the highest mountain on the continent and the highest free standing mountain on planet earth (not part of a mountain range). It’s in fact a Stratovolcano and it supports five different eco systems in the Kilimanjaro national park. It towers over 19,300 feet, which is so tall that glaciers can be found at its summit even though the mountain is near the equator. The snow covered dormant mountain is one of Africa’s prides at heart.

Dallol in Northern Ethiopia has the world's hottest average temperature. The average temperature in this locality is 93 degrees Fahrenheit (33.89 degrees Celsius). It’s lowest known sub-aerial volcanic area in the world. This cinder cone volcano in the Danakil Depression is one of the world’s most spectacular landscapes.  

Madagascar is the largest island in Africa and the fourth largest island in the world. It is in the

Indian Ocean off the East coast of Africa. Its 226, 917 square miles meaning it’s bigger than Thailand, Spain, Germany and Sweden. And their 26.2 million Malagasies making it more populous than Romania, Greece, The Netherlands, Sri Lanka and Australia.

It is also one of the few seventeen countries that are considered “Megadiverse”, each possesses a vast number of species – many found nowhere else. Among its resident animals are more than a half of the world’s chameleons and dozens of species of lemur. “Confined to one of the world’s most astonishing habitats, the long-tailed ground roller is very unique and is considered by birdwatchers to be one of the world’s most elusive species” says Ed Hutchings. Funnily enough, they consume quite a lot of marijuana, almost one in ten Malagasies smoke weed, that’s according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime - implying that’s a higher percentage than people do in The Netherlands. The countries ahead of it include France, the USA, Australia and – top of the tree – Iceland.

Gerald Durrell, the globally renowned naturalist’s last wildlife expedition was to Madagascar, a trip he recollects in his book The Aye-Aye and I. The tour operator Reef & Rainforest offers a 13night tour roughly tracing his footsteps and taking in some of the remotest, wildest regions of the island. The tour promises “an almost guaranteed chance” to observe the elusive and nocturnal aye-aye in the wild.

It  also one of the African countries that recently abolished the death penalty The most recent countries to abolish capital punishment were Burkina Faso (2018), Guinea (2017), Benin (2016), Madagascar (2015), Congo (2015), Gabon (2010) and Togo (2009). Remarkably, 54 countries still impose the death penalty, including Egypt, Japan, Cuba, China and the US.

Despite the poverty, luxury tourism has arrived; An Uber-luxury lodge was recently unveiled on Nosy Ankao, the largest of five islands off the north-eastern coast of Madagascar.

Miavana (accessible only by helicopter) is a center for “blue safaris”, with the chance to spot turtles, whales and dolphins on the agenda, along with scuba diving and fishing. There’s also a top notch spa. Start saving up, though – doubles cost from £3,220 a night.

There are also other astonishingly beautiful paradise smaller islands in Africa. If you’re looking for pristine white sand beaches, crystal clear waters, unique wildlife, deep histories, warm oceans, and friendly locals this is where you’ll find it. Together with a varied range of activities to engage in Africa’s stunning islands have plenty to offer. The continent is home to some of the most stunning beaches and best island breaks in the world. Other smaller islands include the Seychelles, Socotra, and other islands to the east; the Comoros, Mauritius, Réunion, and other islands to the southeast; Ascension, St. Helena, and Tristan da Cunha to the southwest; Cape Verde, the Bijagós Islands, Bioko, and São Tomé and Príncipe to the west; and the Azores and the Madeira and Canary islands to the northwest.

The African continent is known for being a great resource for minerals, in fact its pride is being the home to the world’s most precious metals, and its main natural resources are minerals such as Oil & Gas. Petroleum oil and natural gas is the driving force behind many economies in the continent. Countries like Nigeria, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia and Ghana lead the pack with big reserves of oil and natural gas.

Gold is the most mined resource in Africa. It accounts for approximately 21% of the world’s total. South Africa is the largest producer in the world and also the strongest economy on the continent.

African countries greatly contribute to the world's share of natural diamonds. The continent accounts for approximately 46% of the global production. This precious stone features among the top five most valuable minerals globally. Other minerals include Copper, Platinum, Uranium, Aluminum, coal, Iron & Steel, Bauxite. 

The African continent has approximately 30% of the earth’s remaining mineral resources. A plateau called Witwatersrand in South Africa has produced half of the gold ever mined on Earth.

The above metals are supplemented by agricultural produce such as corn, coffee, wheat and fruits. Almost 65% of all Africans work in the agricultural sector.

Whilst it’s true that the above have massively contributed to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Per Capita Income, they have brought social, political and economic instability in many regions.

Africa is beautified with many of nature’s endowments. Its landscape has an aesthetic appeal that provides a soothing relaxation and comfort to the body, mind and soul. One of such wonderful gifts the continent is blessed with is its beautiful waterfalls.

The continent houses some of the world’s tallest and largest waterfalls whose sight would leave a person awestruck. If you are travelling to Africa, there is a long list of breathtaking waterfalls you don’t want to miss. One of them is the Victoria Falls.

Victoria Falls is often called the largest waterfall in the world, although it is neither the highest nor the widest. It has a width of 1.7 kilometers (1 mile) and height of 108 meters (360 ft), roughly twice the height of North America's Niagara Falls.

The African people who live around the falls call it Mosi-oa-Tunya which means "smoke that thunders “is a waterfall in southern Africa on the Zambezi River at the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. It is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World and the major waterfall on the Zambezi River in Africa.

The water makes a roaring noise as it falls over the cliff and down into the Zambezi River below. A cloud of water vapor is always seen around the falls.

There are many other waterfalls in Africa, from well-known to well kept secrets. Other notable waterfalls in Africa include Murchison Falls in Uganda and Thomson Falls in Kenya, which although not ranking high on any specific measurement or classification, are nevertheless outstanding and spectacular waterfalls.

Traditionally most of Africa’s cuisines use a combination of local cereal grains, available fruits and vegetables, as well as meat and milk products. In some parts of the Africa, the traditional diet features a preponderance of curd, fresh and healthy vegetables, whey and products milk. In much of Tropical Africa areas, cow milk cannot be produced locally because it is rare .Depending on the region of this continent, there are also sometimes quite significant and a lot of differences in the drinking and eating habits throughout Africa’s many populations: the Horn of Africa, North Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, West Africa, and Southern Africa each have their own preparation techniques, distinctive dishes and consumption habits.

African food is just as diverse as the continent itself. Origins began from locally grown crops in Africa. With time, we have seen many popular African foods now becoming very popular around the world.

Fruits are one of the most eaten foods in Africa. Some of the top fruits include bananas, apricots, and coconuts. The most popular, however, is watermelon. Watermelon grows natively in Africa.

It’s rich in nutrition, and its main component is water. It’s what keeps Africans cool in the hot climate. It’s one of the most widely eaten foods in Africa. It’s now famous around the world. A variety of meats are consumed around Africa. Many of the most popular dishes in Africa are based around the meat of the meal. Common meats that you’d typically find in most meals include fish, beef, chicken or mutton. There are many recipes which Africans try with their meat eating habits. Many unique meat dishes in Africa have become staples in their diet. The popularity of meat came from necessity. They contain proteins and other nutrients, helping to maintain body energy due to the immense heat while spending time doing outdoor activities. Vegetables are also widely eaten in Africa. Africans are best at growing organic foods. Many of the most common plants consumed around the world originated from Africa. The variety in climate in Africa makes it an ideal place for farming and growing vegetables.

Africans are known for the exotic spices used in their foods. They’re used in many traditional dishes, creating flavors tasted only in Africa. From vegetables to meats and other dishes, spices are used for almost everything. Many of the traditional spices used are natively found in Africa. These have since been exported and used around the world. Some people like the addition of spices as a way to add flavor, spice, or even just decoration to improve the presentation.

Nuts are one of the most popular foods in Africa. Peanuts, almonds, pecans, walnuts, and copra are some of the most common in Africa. Africans enjoy nuts as healthy food or snack. They are rich in nutrients, making them a great food option to eat. Nuts are also incorporated into many traditional dishes to add flavor or crunch to the meal. You can find a variety of nuts almost anywhere. They are frequently sold via street vendors across many African countries.

Flan is food from Africa (and also widely enjoyed in Latin American). It’s also referred to as crème caramel. Flan is a sweet dish. In every region, its recipes are different, and everybody makes it in their unique way. Taste and presentation for flan can vary depending on what country you are visiting. The base ingredients include milk and eggs. Some people add sugar and vanilla, while others put their twist on it, giving a new taste to crème caramel.

Sofrito is one of the tastiest dishes in Africa. It’s a sauce and seasonal food for Africans. Just as with flan, Africans have developed their recipes for the meal depending on your preferred flavor. It is prepared with green pepper, garlic, tomatoes, cilantro leaves, and more. It’s another traditional dish that has begun to become a staple in other countries and cultures. Its origins, however, started right on the African continent.

Jollof Rice is perhaps one of the most widely known foods that originated in Africa. It began in

Nigeria but has since been adopted in other countries in Africa. It’s a favorite dish to prepare for large family gatherings or parties. Rice is a worldwide favorite thanks to its simplicity. Jollof rice is Africa’s version of how they prefer to consume rice. It’s a simple dish, prepared in one pot with ingredients such as rice, pepper, onions, and tomatoes. It has become a very famous and tasty dish hailing from West Africa.

Chambo is one of the most delicious foods that originated in South Africa. It comes from a fish found predominantly in Lake Malawi. It’s a local favorite and a dish worth tasting if you’re ever in the region. You typically won’t see this dish anywhere else in the world, unless coming from African heritage. It’s usually served grilled with other local ingredients. It’s a favorite national dish of African people.

Cereal grains are widely being eaten across Africa thanks to their low cost to produce and abundant availability. In the past, this was very important for Africans as they developed their societies. And now today, it remains as one of the traditional dishes that you’ll find anywhere you go in Africa. Not only is it consumed as-is, but also used in numerous favorite dish from Africa.

To define Africa as a whole makes it necessary to look at it from the outside, but constantly doing so results into an astonishing lack of discernment that undermines the perspectives of those that live on the beautiful continent.

Rather than "retelling Africa", there are very many African stories, and what I can do as a writer, is telling my own.

Writers from every corner of the continent need to do the same. But African Writers will not always tell the best stories just because they are African.

Many great African Writers rely on foreign/western-based international agencies to tell stories about Africa and African countries - and become complicit in spreading misleading dominant narratives.

As an African writer my role is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say.

Writing is a struggle against silence, so I stay faithful to the stories in my head.

But what is needed now, more than ever before, is numerosity of stories from within to challenge the dominant narratives from without.

Reliance on a dominant external narrative is not just a philosophical issue: it can have very tangible effects.

Donald Kaberuka, former President of the African Development Bank, recently told a think tank in Beijing “it had become necessary to ensure that potential business opportunities in African countries are not jeopardized by a single story line whereby negative issues in one country are attributed to all 54 countries on the continent".

Look the Ebola epidemic which hit Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia: the World Bank estimates the outbreak has cost other countries in sub-Saharan Africa more than $500m (£320m) in 2015.

It all blames ignorance of African geography. For instance, the Hotels Association of Tanzania said that advance bookings for 2015 were 50% lower.

This in spite of the fact that Rome and Madrid are closer to the center of the Ebola outbreak than Tanzania, which unlike Spain has never had a single case of the disease.

It is simply impossible to define Africa with just one description, instead it becomes a deception.

In Africa you'll find Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast and Mozambique four of the world's 10 fastest growing economies.

You'll also find some of the world's poorest countries.  Equatorial Guinea with a 94% literacy rate (the global average is 84.1%) and South Sudan with a 27% literacy rate.

Africa also has a very rich history in global education; one of the oldest universities in the world is in Timbuktu, Mali. By the 12th century Timbuktu was home to three universities. Over 25,000 students attended one of the Timbuktu universities in the 12th century.

You'll also notice an increasing number of local inventions across the continent: among others, they include;

A Touch Screen Medical Tablet, Cardio pad is a Cameroonian invention that enables heart examinations in remote locations.

Hdropcy App is Uganda’s first mobile pharmacy. Convenient healthcare delivered at your doorstep.

Safe Pal is a Ugandan confidential platform which can be used by young people to report incidences of sexual violence on them or their friends.

But you will also discover that female genital mutilation still occurs in 27 African countries, and in Tanzania people with albinism are at risk of being attacked and mutilated by those wanting to use their body parts for witchcraft.

Economically, Africa is not rich or poor. Here are the top five countries by GDP ($bn):

Nigeria: 568.5, South Africa: 349.8, Egypt: 286.5, Algeria: 214.1, Angola: 131.4

And the five smallest are: Seychelles: 1.4, Guinea-Bissau: 1.0, The Gambia: 0.8, Comoros: 0.6, Sao Tome and Príncipe. Source: World Bank, 2014.

Africa is the summit of nature wonders, undoubtedly extremely gifted by nature. It’s on record that Africa is home to the world’s largest land animal the African elephant. The world’s tallest animal, the giraffe, lives in Africa. The fastest land animal in the world, the cheetah, lives in Africa. Africa is home to the world’s largest reptile, the Nile crocodile. The gorilla, which can be found in the continents jungles, is the world’s largest primate. The world's largest frog, the goliath frog (also called the goliath bullfrog) lives in Africa among many other unique stuff.

In a nutshell, Africa is not rich or poor, educated or illiterate, progressive or archaic. What Africa is depends on which part of it you are referring to.

No single story can adequately reflect that, but a multiplicity of stories can and should broaden our received wisdom about the prodigious beautiful unique continent.

Remember, the African proverb that says ‘Until the lion learns how to write, every story will glorify the hunter’.

So with more platforms and opportunities than ever before, there has never been a better time to challenge that confusing and costly concept of a single African story. The responsibility comes back to us the natives to tell the archetype counter narrative to expose and challenge the colonial structures in the present time.  We must tell a different story, if we don’t tell our stories, no one else will.