Africa Works

“What is Africa to me now? I don’t know that we can assume that there’s anything spontaneous about the forms of recognition involved. And I think that’s compounded by the globalization of African American culture as American culture. Africa functions in this dreamscape much of the time as a place from which no light can escape, as the heart of darkness, as the core of unreason. Why would people want to identify with misery, AIDS, all of this?” — Paul Gilroy

“I am very optimistic that things are going to change in Zimbabwe. Nothing lasts forever, nothing.” — Oliver Mtukudzi

“The worst thing isn’t the evil of bad people, but the silence of good people.” – Norbert Zongo

“I am a white man born in Africa, and all else flows from there.” – Rian Malan

“African content needs to take its place in the global constellation. We need more African content — so tag something today.” — Guido Sohne

“Africa’s past has stamped itself deeply on Africa’s present.” — Jared Diamond

“Africa has burst into a frenetic spasm of criminalizing HIV.” — Edwin Cameron

“The Chinese are not here as investors. They’re here as invaders.” — Michael Sata, opposition leader, Zambia

“Africa is now so far behind other regions that it cannot relate to other economies apart from through resource extraction. Market mechanisms alone cannot enable Africa to catch up with Asia as an exporter of manufactured goods.” — Paul Collier

“The U.S. has a vital interest in strengthening the military and intelligence capacity of poor countries like the ones we find in Africa. For their part, African countries could immeasurably improve their ability to solve the problems of peace and security with the aid of the U.S.” — Edmond J. Keller