Dayo Olopade knew from personal experience that Western news reports on conflict, disease, and poverty obscure the true story of modern Africa. So she crossed sub-Saharan Africa to document how ordinary people deal with their daily challenges. She found what the media ignores: a continent of ambitious reformers and young social entrepreneurs, driven byย kanju –ย creativity born of African difficulty. Itโs a trait found in pioneers like Kenneth Nnebue, who turned cheap VHS tapes into the multimillion-dollar film industry Nollywood. Or Ushahidi, a technology collective that crowdsources citizen activism and disaster relief.
A shining counterpoint to the conventional wisdom,ย The Bright Continentย rewrites Africaโs challenges as opportunities to innovate and celebrates a history of doing more with less as a powerful model for the rest of the world.
