UNKNOWN AFRICA. MYTH 8: Africa is in a state of cultural stagnation

Writer, journalist, Ph.D., professor at the University of Cambridge, author of the bestselling book How Asia works

UNKNOWN AFRICA. MYTH 8: Africa is in a state of cultural stagnation

Art design: huxley.media via Photoshop

The concept of a «stereotype» was introduced back in 1922 by American sociologist Walter Lippmann. Since then, humanity has repeatedly realized how difficult it is to step beyond the «picture in one’s head». Joe Studwell is one of the few who has managed to overcome the inertia of thought and build a bridge of understanding between cultures.

For more than 20 years, he served as the editor of China Economic Quarterly. His years of research resulted in the bestselling book The Asian Management Model (How Asia Works). Today, Studwell takes on an equally ambitious challenge: helping us understand how Africa works.

In an exclusive interview for Huxley, he debunks nine myths about Africa that persist in Western cultural consciousness. Let’s embark on an engaging and stereotype-free journey across the African continent with him.

uropean colonialism largely contributed to the perception of Africa as a culturally unchanging — and therefore stagnant — region. Colonial powers treated Africa as a collection of isolated tribes with fixed traditions and clearly defined territories. Ugandan scholar Mahmood Mamdani wrote: «European rule in Africa amounted to an obsessive and exclusive emphasis on customary law.» More precisely, on what Europeans themselves defined as traditions. Numerous accounts showing that African societies were evolving and that people moved freely between ethnic groups were disregarded.

Colonial governments ruled through leaders they appointed to represent «fixed tribes.» Where such tribes and their chiefs did not exist, they were artificially created. For example, in the Équateur province, in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a Belgian colonial administrator artificially formed the Bangala group. When he began recruiting soldiers for the colonial Force Publique army from among the Bangala, this ethnic identity quickly gained popularity due to the employment opportunities it offered.

In Nigeria, the Yoruba ethnic group — today dominant in the southwest of the country — was constructed by colonial authorities in the 19th century; many Yoruba people still speak mutually unintelligible languages. In southeastern Nigeria, the Igbo lived in autonomously governed villages, so the British colonial administration imposed warrant chiefs — leaders who were granted special mandates to rule by the colonizers.

In reality, Africa has always been a culturally dynamic region — and it remains so today. Many Africans have mixed ethnic and religious backgrounds, which contributes to an incredible cultural richness. African music is striking in its diversity, reflecting strong musical traditions in virtually every community on the continent.

Afropop and Afrobeat — styles that fuse African and Western elements — have formed the foundation of a major industry. Naturally, each country brings its own distinctions. Nigeria is one of the most influential musical hubs, setting the tone for the continent. The music of Black South Africans is another important source of trends.

In the Francophone part of the continent, groups from Senegal, Cameroon, and Madagascar enjoy particular popularity. Just ask your streaming service to play African music, and you’ll experience the remarkable breadth and richness of this musical heritage.

African cinema is almost as diverse as its music. Senegalese filmmaker Ousmane Sembène is considered the first Black African director (Borom Sarret, 1963; Black Girl, 1966; Mandabi, 1968). Egypt, Tunisia, Mauritania, Nigeria, and South Africa are also known for their outstanding filmmakers. Nigeria’s film industry — Nollywood — is the continent’s largest in terms of revenue and number of productions, releasing around two thousand films annually and contributing 2% to the country’s GDP. Africa is home to two major film festivals: FESPACO in Burkina Faso and Carthage in Tunisia.

Since 1986, Africa has produced six Nobel Prize laureates in literature: Abdulrazak Gurnah (Tanzania), Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio (Mauritius), John Maxwell Coetzee (South Africa), Nadine Gordimer (South Africa), Naguib Mahfouz (Egypt), and Wole Soyinka (Nigeria). With each passing year, African literature becomes more influential on a global scale.

Contemporary African art is experiencing a genuine renaissance. Biennales of contemporary art are held in Dakar (Senegal) and Johannesburg (South Africa). Art galleries in North and West Africa, as well as in Ethiopia, are especially popular. While contemporary African art is sometimes criticized for borrowing too heavily from European and American styles, the finest works by African artists are nonetheless highly valued worldwide.

One of the most significant cultural phenomena in Africa in recent years has been the rise of national cuisines. This trend has been driven by growing incomes and the development of food markets tailored to local tastes. In West Africa, cassava-based products like garri (cassava flour) and attieke (fermented cassava pulp) have become widespread. In Nigeria and Senegal, packaged millet dishes accompanied by a portion of fermented milk are in high demand.

In Ethiopia, teff — traditionally purchased as grain and prepared at home — is increasingly being replaced by teff flour or ready-made injera, the central element of Ethiopian cuisine. In Tanzania, the children’s food lishe, made from a blend of grains and legumes, has gained immense popularity.

In 2015, stores in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s largest city, stocked 487 types of processed food, most of which were produced within Africa. While the boom in African cuisine is currently mostly concentrated within the continent, it is likely to shape global culinary trends in the future.