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Indeed, Africa is NOT a country

Response to Matambalya-Melber

12 comments April 9, 2013

By Gabi Björsson, Secretary-General, Africa Groups of Sweden

Indeed, Africa is NOT a country. The title of the exhibition is ironic and stems from the same frustration that you express in your article.

The stereotypes and refusal to accept the African multitude of nations, cultures, languages, economy, education, possibilities and exactly every other criteria is ripe in Europe and in Sweden.

A multitude of voices will point out that it is not so, Africa is NOT a country, for the benefit of those who have yet to understand this.

We believe that the thousands of people who will be reached by the exhibitions will hesitate to name Africa stereotypically again.

Africa is NOT a Great Country!

5 comments April 8, 2013

by Francis Matambalya, Senior Researcher at The Nordic Africa Institute and Professor at the University of Dar-es-Salaam, and

Henning Melber, Senior Advisor/Director emeritus of The Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation and Extraordinary Professor at the University of Pretoria and the University of the Free State.

Africa is a big continent with more than 50 countries. In fact, it is the second biggest continent after Asia. Africa is not a great country. Neither is Europe a great country, nor Asia, nor Latin America.

The difference seems to be, that nobody would even consider calling these continents a country – Why then Africa? Jens Assur’s fine pictures from Africa do not add up to a “great country”, as the title of the exhibition (“Africa is a Great Country”) – to open this week at Liljevalchs in Stockholm – suggests.

Coming from a diverse continent that has been very much misconstrued, we are weary and worried by a potentially denigrating language, even if this narrative is done with the best of intentions.

Unmasking Racism

The World Bank and Africa(ns)

16 comments December 27, 2012

By Phyllis Muhammad, J.D., Legal Services and Conflict Resolution Professional

Twin evils have bedevilled the World Bank’s relationship with Africa and Africans: the ‘democracy deficit’ in the Bank’s governance and the institutional discrimination against people of African origin.

Africa has moved to the centre of the Bank’s business, yet remains marginal in its governance structure. Is Africa a true development partner, or just an aid recipient: ‘A White Man’s Burden?’

In 2012, current and former World Bank staff members established Justice for Blacks with a mission to restore the human dignity and rights of black staff and consultants.

The Bank should be held accountable to uphold its own principles of staff employment, as well as universal norms which both militate against racial discrimination.

Focus on Africa: Should we be amused or take offence?

July 16, 2012

by George Gachara, youth worker and co-founder of the UN supported Picha Mtaani National Reconciliation Initiative in Kenya.

The African identity has been under siege from a barrage of demeaning attacks by some isolated but significant players abroad. These attacks have generated an angry discourse across many media platforms especially since they have been excused as ‘honest mistakes’.

The recent incidents under review can be labeled the ‘Swedish racist cake’, ‘Spain is not Uganda’, ‘Indigenous people full of primitive energy’, and ‘Sex with Africans’.

We need to cut through the mountains of public relations, in order to understand these comments and actions. We need to reclaim a sense of dignity, one that has been emasculated by bullying, intimidation and domination by a skewed and aggressive western view of Africa which is not only demeaning, but does not take into account our life patterns.

Many people are losing their western patterns for African ones; African print, local designs, nappy hair, local food and local music genres are most fashionable. This resistance is gradually changing from a discourse to an identity.