Unveiling Africa: The World’s Most Dynamic Continent

Written by Natasha Kasonde

The many faces of Africa each tell their own story of the continent’s rich history–a tapestry of colour and wonder, the epitome of the philosophy of Ubuntu, a culture enriched by celebrating diversity and togetherness. These 54 faces, along with its people, however, altogether showcase the continent’s impeccable resilience and the astounding ingenuity and eruditeness of its people: “Welcome to Africa!”

This beautiful continent is the epitome of linguistic diversity, dominating the globe with over 2000 languages spoken; nearly a third of the languages spoken across the world, for fraction fanatics! Moreover, Nigeria maintains its paramount status in linguistic diversity in Africa by speaking over 500 languages, which is almost a quarter of all African languages. Ironically, despite an overwhelming plethora of languages spoken across Africa, today the majority of its people uphold the essence of Ubuntu as we come together in celebrating our cultural and linguistic dissimilarities through our daily interactions and modern cross-celebration of traditional tribal ceremonies. 

It goes without saying that the continent sparks with wildlife and biodiversity, with Africa being home to a quarter of the world’s plant and animal species, and a sixth of all plant species in the world. The idiosyncratic paw-prints of Africa’s animalia that mark their territorial identity are mostly situated in the savannas–the famous Serengeti in Tanzania, the Okavango Delta in Botswana, the Congo Rainforest and the Sahara Desert to name a few–with many protected species in protected national wildlife parks across the continent. These magnificent, majestic beasts boasted by the continent have the privilege to roar and soar through the sunny and golden Savanna.

However, most of southern Africa is home to the Big 5: lions, leopards, rhinos, buffaloes, and elephants, five of Africa’s most coveted animals to spot on a cinematic safari! While on a safari with the hopes of spotting the Big 5, it would be beneficial to likewise be on the lookout for the tallest and largest land animals in the world–both found in Africa–namely the giraffe and African elephant, respectively. 

Africa isn’t only famous for its popular wildlife safaris. The infamous desert safaris in the Namib, Kalahari, and Sahara deserts showcase the dusty dunes and indigenous treasures that inhabit the sun-scorched plains. 

Additionally, the natural and ancient wonders of the world located in Africa still spawn a sense of awe, even to the local residents with the privilege to absorb the beauty of these wonders at every moment. A few include the Pyramids of Giza and the Lighthouse of Alexandria, both found in Egypt. 

One of the most lavish hidden gems is the Victoria Falls, or locally called the “Mosi-Oa-Tunya” (“The Smoke That Thunders”), located in the southern part of Zambia and notably recognized as one of  CNN’s Seven Natural Wonders of the world. Oscar-Award winning actor Will Smith said his bungee jump and experience of the falls “was a 20-year ambition fulfilled” and while soaring into the largest waterfall in the world (that is twice as high and wide as the Niagara Falls) he exclaimed, “this is living! This is living right here!” Interestingly to add, the Victoria Falls flows from the “Mighty Zambezi River”, which is where Zambia gets its name from, and has its source in the Kalene Hills in the Ikelenge district of the Northwestern Province of Zambia. Moreover, the Victoria Falls is also one of two places in the world that regularly produces lunar rainbows (rainbow produced by moonlight rather than sunlight) or “moonbows” during a full moon.

Other notable natural features in Africa include the Cape of Good Hope, also known as Cape Point, in Cape Town, South Africa, which is the point where the light blue waters of the cold Atlantic Ocean meet the warm dark blue waters of the Indian Ocean; their waters never mix! A spectacular view of this phenomenon can be observed by taking a forklift or hiking Cape Town’s Table Mountain. 

Speaking of mountains, the world’s tallest free-standing mountain–Mount Kilimanjaro–is a sought-after tourist spot situated in the luscious peaks of Northern Tanzania. Right south of the mountain, in the southern part of Tanzania and on the border of the northern part of Zambia, is Lake Tanganyika, the world’s longest freshwater lake and second deepest lake. Other notable waterbodies include the Egyptian Nile, the longest river in the world, and Lake Victoria, the largest tropical lake in the world, shared by Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya.

But Africa is not only known for its natural exquisiteness. Great minds across the continent are using their knowledge to boost Africa’s technological sphere, with a lot of development in Rwanda, which is famously cited as the “Singapore of Africa.” Rwanda was the first country in the world to implement a national-scale drone delivery system for medicine, especially tailored for inaccessible areas.  Moreover, Rwanda has growing ambitions to boost not only technological innovation but infrastructural innovation, as it is currently in an arms race with South Africa to construct an F1 circuit and bring the exhilarating sport of Formula One to the continent. 

Other countries like Kenya, also known as the “Silicon Savannah”, have ameliorated agrotech and fintech across the continent through M-Pesa that now processes billions of dollars. Additionally, Africa is capitalizing on its ability to produce clean energy using the Internet of Things: smart, decentralized grids enable local communities to manage energy production and trade excess solar power via blockchain tokens. Moreover, the continent is also expanding on its digital infrastructure: an initiative is underway to build a $6.2 billion undersea fibre-optic cable linking Dakar to Djibouti to boost regional connectivity.

These powerful facts demonstrate a slither of Africa’s incredible resilience and ingenuity. Moreover, they illustrate a mere fraction of the continent’s indigenous treasures, virtues, and blessings, and its avenues of prosperity; all in all, spotlighting a growing continent full of potential and proudly worth showcasing!