Africans—and their ideas, innovations, and insights—are central to many contemporary conversations throughout the globe. We profiled some of these key figures in earlier sections: eminent philosopher Ibn Khaldun, Noble Prize–winning activist Leymah Gbowee, renowned former Tanzanian president Julius Nyerere, and award-winning chef Marcus Samuelsson. Here we showcase the pathways and contributions of some other notable Africans. Mo Ibrahim is one of the wealthiest people in the world—an extraordinarily successful entrepreneur and committed philanthropist. In his interview with Stuart Reid, he shares his thoughts about business, success, the role of government, the importance of education, and the future of the African continent. Keiso Matashane-Marite is perhaps less well known, but her story about her remarkable personal journey from a humble village in rural Lesotho to the formidable corridors of the United Nations is quite compelling. Readers will also learn how and why she became a fierce advocate for gender justice. Meschac Gaba is a much-admired artist from Benin who has displayed his work around the globe. Kerryn Greenberg explores his signature work, Museum of Contemporary African Art—a twelve-room installation that challenged presumed boundaries between art and life, public and private, and observation and participation.
Other key contributions of Africa and Africans to the contemporary world are more collective—the product of numerous people, actions, and initiatives. Nollywood, an extraordinarily popular genre of films produced in Nigeria, has become one of the most recognized African art forms in the world today. Onookome Okome examines the genesis and genius of Nollywood, in part through a study of one of its earliest and most famous films, Living in Bondage. African religious practices have also circulated across the globe, surfacing in sometimes unexpected places—like Philadelphia. Cheikh Anta Babou explains the mystery of how and why African forms of Sufi Islam have circulated—and resonated—far beyond their origins on the African continent. He recounts the lives and travels of two Senegalese Sufi masters, the late Murid and Tijani shaykhs Abdoulaye Dieye and Hassan Cisse, both of whom eventually became renowned proselytizers in the United States.
As readers will be aware of from earlier chapters, Africans have long traveled as individuals and in groups around the world, both forcibly and voluntarily. In some parts of the world, the size and similarities among certain African migrants have produced common ways of being in and seeing the world. “Afropolitanism” is a term coined just a few years ago to describe wealthy, cosmopolitan Africans who traverse the world for business and pleasure. Obadias Ndaba met with some self-identified Afropolitans in New York, who explain that Afropolitanism is at once a celebration of their African identity and a challenge to enduring derogative representations of Africa and Africans.
The section—and the volume—concludes with a photo essay by Salem Mekuria, of Awra Amba, a model “utopian” community in Ethiopia. Despite the many accomplishments and contributions of Africans past and present to the work documented in this book, the negative stories of crisis, conflict, and utter hopelessness still dominate media and popular images of the continent. Such being the case, it seems fitting to end on a note of hope—a reminder that Africa can also be a source of inspiration for models of more generous, equitable, and peaceful ways to live in the world.