When thinking of Africa, the average person’s imagination conjures up all sorts of vivid images about death, disease, famine and other ghastly scourges. One can hardly scroll through a Facebook newsfeed without seeing some viral image of a starving baby, an emaciated beggar or some disease-stricken individual.
Wave upon wave of articles about the poor and destitute on this strange and foreign continent are continuously read and accepted. Images of war torn areas and crying families accompany shocking headlines announcing another war, another revolution, another civil uprising.
However, most of this is simply not true. Africa is not a desolate, homogeneous place. Africa is not a place where people wail and moan because they're suffering from famine, drought and disease.
And, most importantly, Africa is not a country.
Saying, “Oh I’ve been to Africa!” or “I’ve always wanted to go to Africa” is just like saying “I’ve been to North America” or “I’ve always wanted to visit Oceania.” The fact of the matter is that you went to Canada and you want to go to Australia. It is ridiculous to lump these countries into one based on the continent they are located in. But for some reason, it is perfectly reasonable to do so with any African nation.
There are 54 different countries in Africa. That’s 54 countries with different cultures, traditions, languages and, yes, even different ethnicities. When thinking of Africa, few people think of Egypt. Yet, Egypt is in Northern Africa.
Most Americans and mainstream media sources seem convinced that Africa, the continent as a whole, is riddled with disease and hunger and the only thing keeping its inhabitants alive is foreign aid.
Again, this is simply not true. Currently, foreign aid represents only two percent of the total GDP for the entire continent. In fact, in 2010, Africans living off the continent sent 54 billion dollars back to their families, while other countries only sent 43 billion. Moreover, the sum that the continent receives in foreign aid only masks the underlying problem of the “sustained looting” of the continent.
Africa loses approximately 60 billion dollars a year to tax evasion, climate change mitigation and the flight of profits from multinational companies that use the continent for its resources and take the profit out of the local economies.
Despite these setbacks, the continent as a whole is growing economically at a good rate. In fact, four of the ten countries in the world with the fastest economy are in Africa.
While there are some parts of the continent that lack running water or electricity, much of the continent has technology that popular knowledge holds them without. One out of three Africans owns a cell phone, many own cars, the cities are beautiful and subway systems are better than those in New York City.
There is more to this continent than our misconceptions. Africa is a place of ancient tradition and modern innovation. And Africa is home to some of the most beautiful natural sights in the world.
