Africa's Mixed Messages

Thumbing through the latest issue of Vanity Fair, the so-called “Africa” issue, you get a pretty good sense of the mixed messages coming out of Africa these days. The magazine awkwardly combines the global glamour and celebrity typical of Vanity Fair, with the more pedestrian stories of a continent struggling to right itself and play a meaningful role in the world economy. It is a picture of contrasts, and it is, however unintended, emblematic of Africa’s current dichotomy.

There was Brad Pitt interviewing South Africa’s Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Bono putting questions to the presidential hopefuls. And Annie Leibovitz capturing dozens of celebs (mostly American) with her knowing lens. But it was the story by Kenyan journalist Binyavanga Wainaina that was the most paradoxical.

The wide-ranging piece hits many of the themes the GIO has grappled with so far in its Africa focus area: the role of the informal economy, Africa’s burgeoning wireless markets, and the political stability that is setting the tone for economic growth. But the main thrust of the piece is a complaint: American news media focuses too heavily on the disease, poverty, and corruption in Africa, and not enough on the positive stories.

This was something we also heard in our Nairobi deep dives. A few people suggested that in order for more investment to be made in Africa, the world needs to hear the truly hopeful stories of Africa. Stories like Safaricom’s ground-breaking mobile banking system M-Pesa. Or the stories of the many young students we met with, with bright minds and big dreams. One deep diver suggested a web site that is dedicated solely to telling stories of hope and achievement coming out of Africa.

But flip a few pages forward in Vanity Fair’s Africa issue, and you read this: “next year, 10 million children’s lives will be lost unnecessarily to extreme poverty,” or “H.I.V./AIDS is killing teachers faster than you can train them.” These words come from Bono, whose public efforts to cancel debt and raise awareness for African nations are tireless. A few pages more and you read a typical story on how the oil boom in Africa is fueling a vicious cycle of guns, conflict, and oppression.

So what is the message we are to believe? Is the real story of Africa one of entrepreneurial growth and political stability? Or is it the images we get from CNN, of poverty, disease, and hopelessness?

It is, of course, both. At the same time that Africa desperately needs charity to prevent the needless deaths of countless children, it also needs bootstrap businesses that borrow money, grow rapidly, and employ dozens, hundreds, or thousands of other Africans. And both stories need to be told, for different reasons, but to achieve the same end. If you read Mr. Wainaina’s story carefully, you see that not long ago, Africa had only one story to tell the world. Today, it has two competing stories. And that is the sign of a continent in transition.