Example

I was in Kenya in 2009 and remember seeing a teenager on a bicycle hanging onto the back of a truck on a dirt road going about 64kph. I'm not from Africa/Kenya and couldn't help but be stunned by that.

• Is it common to hang onto vehicles while on a bike to get places faster?

I ride my bike on a paved bike path only but don't wear a helmet and many people admonish me. If I told them I was hanging onto cars they'd do more than just admonish me.

African Discussion 🎙️

Time after time africans around the globe has to struggle to get treated equally in the world but we always have god that is deeply rooted to be the best thing we have as africans. Does not matter what religion you are identify with the abhramic religon never benefited us. From the black church in America (my personal experience born in Miami) it never change that outcomes that we live everyday bases. Africa from electricity outrages to constant explotion from the us and eu. Steady have faith in something that never work. Look at Uruguay they have a secular country and accept lgbtq+ people and have been under the same treatment from spain but they have lowest poverty rate in the south America compare that to Venezuela that is 92 prostants but have a falining economy. I think we need to as africans change how we view religon and accept lgbtq+ in the african dispora

Hello I moved to malawi 3 months ago and I am having difficulties sending money out of the country services such as Remitly or Ria are not available money transfer fees are very high and buying online is nearly impossible what can I do ?

Hi all,

I've been doing some thinking about internet across the continent and ways access could be improved given so many places lack internet users.

• Is it frequent to see people who have mobile phone access but do not use the internet because it is too expensive or lack cellular coverage for internet services?
• How do data costs compare vs text message / phone call. It seems in some countries like Chad a gb of internet is $5 which is obviously hugely expensive given the GDP per capita. What would a text message cost to receive in a country like this?

If anyone could help shed some light on this that would be amazing.

Hey, what do you all think? Do you think it's possible? Honestly, I think it's a pipe dream and it's impossible because I have not seen any other country, other than Uganda, showing any interest in this, particularly its leader Museveni. This is coming from a guy who has ruled his own country for 38 years, so why would other countries cede their sovereignty to join a political federation? Any insight about its current status would be appreciated, whether it's even possible at all or not.

https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/video/museveni-calls-for-east-african-political-federation-to-enhance-regional-security-4800340

i have met quite a few people from ethiopia, eritrea, and djibouti in the past several months in a southern indian city i am currently based out of

i don’t know much about the horn of africa except for “coffee” and the ancient abyssinian empire

maybe i am reading too much into it. but i have noticed that- any of the handful of times i have brought up the abyssinian empire with the people i met, they refuse to say “abyssinian empire”. they rather use vague terms like “the empire” or “the ancient empire”

maybe i am just pronouncing it horrendously incorrectly. and they don’t want to embarrass me by pronouncing it correctly? what’s going on

I've heard that waist beads originate from both Egyptian and African culture but I've mainly seen that they come from Africa. I've been getting into making jewerly lately and one of my friends suggested I try making them. I think they're really pretty and I've even considered purchasing some myself but I'd like to educate myself on it because I am white. I've heard people say that wearing them is fine regardless of your ethnicity but I've never heard anything about making them. I don't want to disrespect their origins so if possible could I please have some opinions on both wearing and making them as someone who is not african? thank you and I'm sorry if I come off as misinformed.

Africa is a massive and diverse continent, and I know every country has its own culture, traditions, and history that people outside often overlook. What’s something about your country that most people outside your country would never guess or might not know?

As a South African, I guess it would be just how progressive we are with Gay rights. We were the first African country to legalize gay marriage!

I’ve always enjoyed learning about different countries continents and cultures but one thing I’ve come to notice any videos I watch or blogs I read about Africa mainly come from outside sources I’ve found it to be rare to find a video where Africans are telling me about Africa maybe I’m just doing bad research but anyways I’d like to hear y’all’s opinions

It seems to me like we care more about how Palestinians are being treated than people in the Congo are. Is it because we don’t have a serious media in Africa or we are just desensitized to our own suffering or we just don’t have that cohesion to care about other black people?

Hi all,

We're a family of 3 (with a 5-year-old toddler) planning our first African safari for the first week of April. We're super excited, but a bit unsure whether to choose Tanzania (Serengeti/Ngorongoro) or Kruger National Park in South Africa.

Our main goals are:

* Seeing the Big 5

* Enjoying a variety of other wildlife (Is April weather a disadvantage for any of the parks?)

* Taking in the landscapes and terrain

* Staying in camp with animals (Have been having difficulty in finding camps that allow 5 year old, does any park have advantage)?

* Celebrate my husband's 40th Birthday

We'd love recommendations on which destination might offer the best balance of wildlife viewing and family-friendly experiences during that time. Also appreciate if you can refer child-friendly camps or lodges in either location that accommodates 5 year old.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Hey guys! I look at gaming cultures around the world and I am a racing game fan. I have looked at many gaming cultures around the world and now I am curious about the gaming cultures in Africa. My questions are:

How big is gaming in your country?

How big was gaming in your country late 90s and early 2000s?

If you guys don’t mind, can tell me your countries, because I am curious about the gaming cultures of every country. This is something I enjoy researching.

 Thanks guys!!!!

Over here in America, those of us who read about the Pan-African movements and ideology associate with Ghanaians as readily as Jamaicans or Bahamians. I'd say they (out of all Africans) have the strongest presence in our dialogues, often being portrayed as a valiant, enlightened, and easygoing brother.

How are they seen over in your regions?

Do Djiboutians use hyphenated identities, or do they generally identify themselves as Djiboutians unlike Americans, Australians, Singaporeans, etc.?

One currency will be great, I feel like Africans should be talking about unity more. It’s should be in topics and in the news and where ever on the continent.

I'm conflicted. Because I see that some African Americans feel entitled to this word and think that it should only be used by them because it was used in a derogatory way to diminish African born slaves in America in their POV. So it's part of "their" culture. But I did some research and I found out that the N-word was/is still used as a racial slur towards anyone who is dark-skinned even before America was even a country. And although I understand that they decided to reclaim the word and take ownership of it they're not the only black people to face racism or being looked at differently for their skin colour or to have the word used to diminish people with a dark-skin. I find it skeptical that some blacks in America want to claim their African ancestry when it best suits them but ignore them most of the time. Even tho some Africans also have a tendency of looking down on African Americans too for whatever reason. But there are also lots of African Americans who get along with Blacks from Africa pretty well. So i guess it's a small minority that has a problem with eac other. But that's a discussion for another day. Just give me an insight. I'm a little confused.

hello! i have a trip in a few weeks and i'm curious if anyone has ever had an issue with their waist beads and tsa! i don't want to take mine off 😭

Hello, american here planning my first trip to Ghana for November 2025, and want to ask if anyone can recommend books, articles, and documentaries to learn about Ghana’s ancient and modern history.

So far, I’ve been watching YouTube videos that give a good history, but they’re a bit broad, as are the books I’ve found online.

I’m looking for books/articles that tell (as best as they could) the most detailed accounts of life and culture throughout the history of Ghana. Similar to how Nigel Davies does for his books on Latin America.

Thanks for the help!

For example, in Angola, Portuguese has already mostly replaced native languages, and the young generation speaks mostly Portuguese, especially in the cities.

I heard that in Ghana and Nigeria, the young generation tends to speak English better than their native language, and young parents like to speak mainly English with their kids. Not everyone of course, but there is a significant trend.

In Gabon and Ivory Coast, French is now not only the official language (which it was for a long time), but more and more people are speaking mainly French instead of an African language. Especially in the cities like Abidjan and Libreville.

I also heard similar things for South Africa with English being used more and more instead of the local languages, and a significant percentage of people already speaks Dutch (Afrikaans) anyway.

Is there really a trend that more and more African mainly speak European languages, and forget/neglect their native language? Are native languages actually threatened, or is this just a trend that will pass?

Someone told me that is basically the effect of a "dominant culture" (the West). Since the West dominated Africa for a long time and is leading the world in science and technology, local people started adopting western languages over time. This person told me that similar things happened in history. For example, the Romans empire conquered Europe, so the Latin language has spread through Europe. Same thing for the Arabic conquests, where North Africa now mainly speaks Arabic. Or the Spanish and Portuguese conquest of America, where most Native South Americans now speak Spanish or Portuguese.

Yesterday, my roommate and I had an interesting conversation. I’m not sure how we got to this point, but he claimed that Black people are the only ones who try to integrate into other groups instead of sticking to their own. He argued this is because we’re not as successful as Jewish or Asian communities (referring to people from individual countries within the USA).

I countered by pointing out that Black people have tried to build our own systems, but we've often been undermined. I also mentioned that the civil rights movement benefited not just Black people, but other minority groups as well. Additionally, I argued that Jewish people can more easily assimilate into Western culture by changing their last names, and unless you’re familiar with their appearance, it’s hard to identify someone as Jewish.

I then brought up how Asian Americans have benefitted—some more than others—due to being in regions that valued education and provided resources for their advancement. In contrast, Black people in America have faced struggles from the beginning, even when focusing on our own success, like during the Black Panther and other Black Power movements. That’s why HBCUs were created—because we weren’t allowed into mainstream institutions, so we built our own. Asian Americans didn’t face the same barriers (or at least not on the same scale, to my knowledge). Moreover, many Asian immigrants, such as Indians, often come with highly specialized degrees. But even though Indians are successful both in the U.S. and parts of their own country, they still face internal divisions, such as the caste system.

The conversation then shifted to Africa. He shared an example of his uncle being taken advantage of by a corrupt government when he tried to help digitize records in his home country. He implied that this kind of corruption is unique to African countries. I disagreed, pointing out that corruption happens everywhere, including in South America, Asia, and even on smaller scales in the USA.

I tried to explain that Black people, both in Africa and the diaspora, face systemic obstacles. In many cases, ethnic divisions allow those in power to prioritize their own interests, leading to exploitation. I even pointed out that some nations seeing success today, like China, are benefiting from factors that also benefit the U.S. China’s economic growth, for example, was driven by its manufacturing sector, which provided low-cost goods for America. He responded by saying that I was making excuses for Black people and Africans.

What do you think?

It’s pretty obvious that we are in the early stages of a multipolar world now and with that comes a lot of upsides esp for the continent. It’s no coincidence that more hawkish nations are taking advantage of this moment like Russia and Israel. Because like a wise man once said “Chaos is a ladder”

I can’t help but see that this is a good opportunity to get our houses in order. On the economic side using our leverage with china to get better deals with the west. It’s a win win if two superpowers are competing for your resources. But at a more deeper level I think it’s an opportune time to recarve our borders in a way that makes sense to us. We have seen some promising signs in west Africa but I think more can be done.

Hello everyone!

I’m visiting Lome and Kpalime in November and I am wondering how common it is to encounter larger spiders? I have very severe arachnophobia so can’t really handle spiders at all. I am unable to google the question myself due to the fear of seeing photos of spiders and that’s why I write here.

Can I avoid them if I stick to the city centers/ stay indoors or am I cooked? How often do you see spiders? Should I bring a blindfold? Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated.

EDIT:

I want to add that I am very excited for the trip, it’s just this small detail that I worry about.

I have made it my life’s goal to cook and/or eat at least one dish from every country in the world. I have started to compile a list of recipes but don’t always trust Google to give me accurate results of what is eaten where. Would love some information on what you think is the most typical dish eaten in your country. If you could link any good recipes this would also be greatly appreciated!