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21 reviews for:
The Bright Continent: Breaking Rules and Making Change in Modern Africa
Dayo Olopade
3.91 AVERAGE
21 reviews for:
The Bright Continent: Breaking Rules and Making Change in Modern Africa
Dayo Olopade
3.91 AVERAGE
I restarted this book a couple of weeks ago so it hasn't really taken me 14 months to read it!
I learned a lot and really liked how Olopade explores progress in Africa in terms of "maps": family, technology, commerce, technology and youth. I have seen first-hand the "kanju" of which she speaks; the creative solutions to everyday issues. My favourite in Uganda was a duck farm using mosquito nets to pen the ducks and protect them from predators (and stop them from flying away)!
A great look at how Africans are working to solve their problems and how sending them "swedow" - stuff we don't want - really isn't helping.
I learned a lot and really liked how Olopade explores progress in Africa in terms of "maps": family, technology, commerce, technology and youth. I have seen first-hand the "kanju" of which she speaks; the creative solutions to everyday issues. My favourite in Uganda was a duck farm using mosquito nets to pen the ducks and protect them from predators (and stop them from flying away)!
A great look at how Africans are working to solve their problems and how sending them "swedow" - stuff we don't want - really isn't helping.
medium-paced
I enjoyed this book because it was inspiring. I appreciated getting a glimpse into Somaliland’s independent nature then, jumping into how Rwanda has evolved since the genocide. By exploring countries contained within the African continent, I was able to see characteristics that are pan-African as well as those that apply to specific countries. Because you can’t squeeze everything about a continent as vast as African into a book as small as this, I have a big list to books to add to my “to read” shelf now!
challenging
hopeful
informative
slow-paced
This is a very readable, informative book about the development of current Africa. While I think the author left some areas unturned that I think could have been interesting, I got a lot out of this book, and I'm looking forward to learning more about the region.
informative
inspiring
Good high level view of aid and creative, small scale changes going on in Africa. The book remains overall optimistic. The author has a good sense of humor. The perspective of a well traveled, we'll read and educated African on challenges the continent faces and the capacity to build solutions is refreshing.
The book does not go super in depth towards investigative reporting. However, the author is well traveled and broadly knowledgeable that it is an important read for any foreigner looking to do aid, policy or for profit work on the continent. Thank you for writing and sharing your unique perspective, knowledge and experience!
The book does not go super in depth towards investigative reporting. However, the author is well traveled and broadly knowledgeable that it is an important read for any foreigner looking to do aid, policy or for profit work on the continent. Thank you for writing and sharing your unique perspective, knowledge and experience!
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
hopeful
informative
slow-paced
This is a wide ranging collection of anecdotes about ordinary Africans and extraordinary Africans and the policies, projects, and day to day decisions to get around state weakness. It's dated (Tom's shoes and kony 2012, anyone?) And much more optimistic than academic or scientific. Her identity as first generation Nigerian-american journalist definitely shapes the stories and the framing.