Caring About Africa

In the past week there have been a number of news stories and opinion pieces raising the question of "who cares about Africa?" and a number of our past and future Richmond Forum speakers figure into the discussion. All of which has reminded me of a comment submitted by one of our subscribers after we announced our 2010-2011 season line-up. Referring to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's program in November, the subscriber said simply, "I have no interest in Africa." That subscriber is not alone — among Americans, or among citizens of the rest of the western world. For instance, in today's Christian Science Monitor, Jason Stearns writes about how Anderson Cooper's ratings dropped 20 to 30 percent when he reported from the Congo several years ago.

Similarly, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof has been in hot water this week over an answer that he gave to the question of why many of his columns about Africa seem to portray "black Africans as victims" and "white foreigners as their saviors."

Kristof responded, "...very often I do go to developing countries where local people are doing extraordinary work, and instead I tend to focus on some foreigner, often some American, who’s doing something there. And let me tell you why I do that. The problem that I face — my challenge as a writer — in trying to get readers to care about something like Eastern Congo, is that frankly, the moment a reader sees that I’m writing about Central Africa, for an awful lot of them, that’s the moment to turn the page." (Read more of his response here.)

But should we be turning the page so quickly on Africa? Africa is, after all, the second largest and second most populous continent in the world, after Asia. And although Africa is often viewed as a homogenous continent, its 53 nations are anything but — in culture, government, religion, and economies. While distressing news still comes out of some African nations on a daily basis, there is also much cause for hope from others.

Tony Blair, through his Africa Governance Initiative, has played a significant role in changing the west's perception of Africa and in attracting western investment — to keep up with the investment that is already flowing from a much more interested China.

Among Blair's reasons to be so encouraged by Africa today are the strong, democratic leaders that have recently emerged in Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, and Liberia where President Sirleaf has brought law and order to her nation after fourteen years of bloody civil war.

When President Sirleaf addresses The Richmond Forum in November she will share her perspective about "Africa and its Place in the World." This program will be challenging and timely, and may give you new reason to care about Africa.

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Related reading: Africa has finally repositioned itself as a serious player in the international politics of the world.