The Africa They Don't Want You to Know About

Unfortunately, the continent of Africa is often discussed as if it is one single country with one culture, one language, one government, and few all encompassing traits such as poverty. I absolutely agree with unity & One Africa, but most of the world is ignorant about the continent, so I've put together a few facts to help us see how diverse the continent is. As you read the information, I encourage you to look for the countries on the map.

30% of the world's resources come from Africa. This photo from Al Jazeera identifies which countries some of the resources come from. The resources include gold, diamonds, cotton, coffee, tea, iron, ore, crude oil, petroleum and natural gas, copper, aluminum, platinum, cocoa and beans, fish, rubber, grains, peanuts, livestock, timber, tobacco, clothing, textiles, shoes, soft drink concentrates, phosphates, cobalt, nickel and more. Thirty percent is equivalent to about one-third of the resources that the entire world relies on. For that alone, we must give Africa its respect because our lives would be drastically different without those resources.

You would think that all of these resources coming from the African continent would lead to wealth and prosperity for those who live there. Due to the lasting impact of colonization and other factors, that is sadly not the case. However, there is great wealth in Africa today, and there always has been. I've personally felt offended in recent years when I've read articles from "credible" media outlets that have listed Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk or John D. Rockerfeller as the richest man of all time. Completely ignoring the actual richest man of all time - an African. While I understand that exact numbers are hard to determine, especially from centuries past, there is no excuse to completely erase or fabric history with "alternative facts", "fake news" or flat out lies. I also saw a list where Genghis Khan and others received "honorable mention" because their exact wealth couldn't be calculated, but that list still did not include Mansa Musa.

Born Kankan Musa Keita, he was given the title of Mansa which translates to emperor or king once he became the emperor/king/ruler of Mali (Timbuktu). According to National Geographic, during Mansa Musa's reign, Timbuktu included parts of modern day Mali ????, Senegal ????, The Gambia ????, Guinea ????, Niger ????, Nigeria ????, Chad ????, Mauritania ????, and Burkina Faso ????. Mansa Musa produced the largest amount of gold in the world during his time. According to Earthly Mission, most of the gold in Europe came from Africa and it increased the European's interest to explore unknown parts of Africa. The above photo is a small section of the Catalan Atlas drawn by Abraham Cresques in 1375 which is currently kept in the Bibliothèque nationale de France. The photo depicts Mansa Musa wearing a gold crown and holding a piece of gold and a staff. It has been said that Mansa Musa had incalculable wealth which is estimated to have been at least $400 Billion during the 13th and 14th centuries. An additional fact about Timbuktu, prior to Mansa Musa's pilgrimage to Mecca where he amazed people and brought so much gold that he collapsed economies, Timbuktu was known for its schools and libraries. This fact completely contradicts the negative image often taught about Africans being barbaric and stupid which is often used to justify their enslavement by Europeans. Although Mansa Musa was extremely wealthy, after he died, Timbuktu was invaded by conquerors who left the people impoverished. This historical information can help us unpack how Africa isn't the richest continent in the world despite providing thirty percent of the world's resources.

According to a Forbes Africa article from February 2022, there are currently 18 Billionaires in Africa worth an estimated $84.9 billion. Now 18 is not a large number for a continent with over 1 billion people, and some of those people aren't "Black" so I'm guessing they may possibly be descendants of colonizers which makes the actual number of Africans smaller. However, knowing the history of the world, particularly the history of Africa, and seeing that Africa is more often than not portrayed as a poor country where people live in huts and don't wear clothes, it's important to point out the extreme wealth in Africa today.

Identifying Each African Country by Its Name

The continent of Africa includes 54 countries, two de facto independent states, and ten territories. There are about 2,000 spoken languages and more than 3,000 distinct ethnic groups. Arabic is the most widely spoken language on the continent while Swahili is the most widely spoken African language.

Instead of continuing to use the blanket term "Africa" when actually referring to a specific city or country within Africa, we should identify each country by its name. I chose not to flood this newsletter with pictures, but I encourage you to to do a simple Google, Yahoo, or Bing search for the facts listed below to get familiar with some of the countries in Africa and to see some of the breathtaking beauty.

The oldest university in the world is in Morocco ????, and was founded in 859 AD. It has not stopped operating since it was founded.

Lagos Nigeria ???? is the most populous city on the continent with approximately 21 million people. Compare that to the country of Ghana which has about 29 million citizens total. Although the USA is 965% (11 times) larger than Nigeria, Nigeria has 1/2 the number of ppl as the US plus 30 million.

Wakanda Forever! The waterfall in Black Panther was inspired by Victoria Falls in Zambia ????.

Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest single free-standing mountain in the world, and is located in Tanzania ????.

Seychelles ???? is the smallest country & is comprised of 115 islands.

Lake Victoria is the world's 2nd largest freshwater lake. It runs through Uganda ????, Tanzania ???? & Kenya ?????.

Those are some key identifying factors of just a few countries, so to anyone from Africa or who's lived in Africa, please add some info in the comments and include the country's flag if you're able. That way myself and others can continue to learn about the diversity throughout Africa. As always, thanks for taking the time to read this, and please share your thoughts in the comments.

Questions for Reflection:

• In 2022, with the internet, documentaries, social media and more providing unlimited and unrestricted access to information, why is misinformation continuing to be shared?
• Why do the majority of "worldwide" studies not include information about any or most of the 54 countries within Africa?
• Are you surprised by any of the information in this newsletter? If so, what surprised you most?
• Based on the information you read, are you interested in doing more of your own research to learn more? Why or why not?

#africa #algeria #angola #benin #botswana #burkinafaso #burundi #caboverde #cameroon #centralafricanrepublic #chad #comoros #democraticrepublicofcongo #RepublicoftheCongo #congo #cotedivoire #ivorycoast #djibouti #egypt #equatorialguinea #eritrea #eswatini #ethiopia #gabon #gambia #ghana #guinea #guineabissau #kenya #lesotho #liberia #libya #madagascar #malawi #mali #mauritania #mauritius #morocco #mozambique #namibia #niger #nigeria #rwanda #saotome #saotomeprincipe #senegal #seychelles #sierraleone #somalia #somaliland #southafrica #southsudan #sudan #tanzania #togo #tunisia #uganda #zambia #zimbabwe #mansamusa #wealth #naturalresources #naturalresource #mountkilimanjaro #lakevictoria #blackpanther #blackpantherwakandaforever #wakandaforever #gold #diamonds #platinum #copper #oil #oilfield #gas #cocoa #import #importexport #importexportbusiness #colonization #history #google #yahoo #bing #jeffbezos #billgates #elonmusk #warrenbuffett