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The Africa rising narrative cialis 20mg
Posted on June 18th, 2012
The inflight magazine on my plane from Belgium to Cameroon last week was replete with “good news” about Africa: “Cameroon uncovered: It’s brimming with natural beauty – just don’t tell the tourists”, “Racing green: Can the African Eco Race burn rubber and save the planet?”, “The greening of the Gambia.” Every story took a positive angle. No talk of war, corruption, poverty, or any of the other topics that tend to dominate international news coverage of the continent.
While there were a fair number of Europeans on the flight, the majority of passengers were African. The magazine was not providing a sanitized portrait of beautiful, natural Africa for the consumption of Western tourists, it was telling positive stories about African to Africans and Europeans alike. In some ways, I found this heartening; it was nice to see profiles of African athletes who will be competing at the London Olympics in lieu of yet another article about child soldiers in the DRC.
This seems to be part of growing trend: The marketing of Africa as a bastion of warmth and good cheer. Oftentimes Africa is contrasted with a Western world that is (at least in economic terms) going to hell, so to speak. (This narrative was amply evident in advertisements during the 2010 World Cup in Johannesburg.) Take, for instance, this ad* for Coca-Cola (which, as far as I know, aired only in Kenya). For those without time to watch the video, here are a few excerpts:
There are a billion reasons to believe in Africa.
While the world shakes and stumbles…
Africa dances to a different beat.
For every international band trying to sell a song…
5000 African bands go live.
The world’s most admired man is African…
And so is the most beautiful woman.
While the world turns grey…
We live in full colour.
While the world worries about the future…
1 Billion Africans are sharing a Coke.
The ad raises a number of questions: How did the ad’s makers arrive at the oddly exact statistic of 5000 bands? Who is world’s most admired man? (And if they are referring to Barack Obama, and not Nelson Mandela, who at Coke forgot to check the President’s polling numbers.) More interesting, however, is the question of audience. Who is this ad targeting? It would appear that, at least in the eyes of Coca-Cola Kenya, there is a group of Africans who will find such a narrative appealing.
Positive narratives about Africa, however, are not only being directed towards Africans. The December 3, 2011 issue of The Economist featured the headline “Africa Rising” above a child flying a kite in the shape of the continent. The videos produced by the American NGO Mama Hope, featuring “real Africans” debunking negative stereotypes, have gone viral. Clearly, there is also great appetite in the West for new types of representation after so many years of gloom and doom.
Greater awareness, among Africans and Westerners alike, of the many positive developments happening in Africa is to be celebrated. The Economist’s ‘Africa Rising’ cover is certainly preferable to this one, and I am an unabashed fan of the Mama Hope videos. The attempt to use a positive portrayal of Africa to sell pop seems a tad cynical but, whatever, it’s not the most offensive ad I’ve every seen. I have often stated that if for every article in the Western press about, say, AIDS in South Africa, there was one about, say, Johannesburg Fashion Week, Western readers would have a much more accurate understanding of Africa and Africans.
But that’s the thing. We need both. There is an AIDS crisis in Southern Africa. Just as there is a world-class fashion week in Johannesburg. To omit one category of narrative in favour of the other is to tell only (less than) half the story, and this hinders, rather than encourages, understanding.
* My thanks to Sean Jacobs, and the always excellent ‘Africa is a Country’ blog. Prof. Jacobs’ critique stimulated my own.
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