Source: CNN
There are really only two narratives that the public hears about Africa. One is a story of suffering — that is, the Africa that is hungry, poor and at war. It is used to evoke compassion. The second narrative evokes fear: It’s the centuries-old motif that the black man will overrun Europe. This trope is again becoming more pervasive as the debate about migration rages on.
However, both provide a narrow view of African reality, reducing our neighboring continent to nothing more than its relationship with Europe. Is it any wonder solutions to Africa’s problems are equally narrow?
Many unnerved African politicians tell me: “You Europeans only want to talk to us about migration.” It is not that migration is irrelevant, but rather that African-European cooperation can and must do more than just curb the flow of migrants. Africa is important and its importance is growing. The continent is home to an enormous stockpile of natural resources, which the rest of the world has benefited from. Yet, it has only barely reaped the benefits of its own well-endowed land.