Some Positive Reporting on Africa, Please?

As you read this, more than five new HIV infections are taking place each minute around the world. The majority of them are in Sub Saharan Africa. As you continue to read, know that, according to an online portal – 2011 Rape Statistics: South Africa and Worldwide – it is estimated that a woman born in South Africa has a greater chance of being raped than learning how to read. Continue reading, keeping in mind that Somalia is probably still the most corrupt country in the world, according to the 2011 Corruption Index from Transparency International. Of the 20 poorest countries in the world in 2011, 17 happen to be African. So says the International Monetary Fund’s 2011 GDP per capita’s report, based on countries with the lowest purchasing parity. Of the recent socio-political upheavals globally, four of them have occurred on the African continent, these being in Côte d’Ivoire, Libya, Egypt and Tunisia. As you read this, Rwanda is being accused by international organisations and rights groups of playing a leading role in the escalating conflict in the DRC. Africa just seems to be one huge cesspool of conflict, disease, corruption and violence. It’s all a matter of despair and gloom, isn’t it? Well, as you read this, know that child mortality in Africa is plummeting. Leading this trend are Senegal and Rwanda, which now have rates the same as India. It took India 25 years to reduce its rate from around 120 child deaths per 1,000 births to 72 now. It took Rwanda and Senegal only about five years. It is speculated that this year, the economy is growing by nearly 6 per cent in Sub Saharan Africa. Compare this with the USA where GDP is said to grow at an uninspiring 2per cent or the Eurozone, where the economy will actually get smaller this year, if it hasn’t already. Africa is brimming with entrepreneurship, and this is reflected in Rwanda too. As you read this, a young designer is preparing to showcase his work, and represent Rwanda for the first time at the 2012 Africa Fashion Week, taking place in London. As you read this, preparations are underway for Rwanda to become the first African country to host a Diner En Blanc (The White Dinner), the famous pop-up picnic that began in Paris 24 years ago. This event is being brought to Kigali by a group of young and dynamic entrepreneurs.My point is, long-winded as it may seem, there is much more to Africa that what we are presented with in the media, particularly the Western media. Like many, I have been bombarded with African hopelessness on CNN, BBC, VOA, Al Jazeera and what have you, since this year began. I made it a point that for every negative story on Africa, I would stop being lazy and look up a positive too. While most of the abysmal news of our continent is it true, that is not all there is to it. There is a different continental narrative emerging, but it is really up to Africans to propel it. Otherwise, we risk having Africa’s turmoil being perpetually churned out by Western media to viewers globally. Kenyan author Binyavanga Wainaina wrote a book titled “How To Write About Africa.” In addition to this, perhaps what the world needs too, is to learn how to read about Africa. Critical thinking, intelligent curiosity and a reduction on stereotypes would do good in how we learn about others. Even from the likes of CNN, BBC, VOA and Al Jazeera.