This is Africa”: useful mantra or ugly prejudice?

This is Africa”: useful mantra or ugly prejudice?

“This is Africa” or TIA is used to dismiss a range of inconveniences, but does its casual use perpetuate harmful stereotypes?

Africa, more than any other continent, has a PR problem. Popular culture tells the West that Africa is a land of conflict and famine, where progress is slow and corruption is rampant. Even the “better” half of Africa is full of clichés: the huge red sun, open savannah and fearsome tribes in native clothing.

Perhaps the most common cliché is wrapped in a snarky epithet: “This is Africa,” or its diminutive TIA.

TIA is used by Africans and non-Africans alike as a term of endearment and a sigh of resignation. It is used to ignore a range of inconveniences, from power outages and roadworks to general inefficiency, annoying bureaucracy and questionable ethics. TIA is an instruction to go with the flow, take a chill pill, sit down and relax because hey, that's what happens in Africa.

alt="This is Africa">Atlas & BootsTIA is used to dismiss poor infrastructure and general inefficiency

During our month in Ethiopia, we heard “This is Africa” several times to explain power outages, delays, and general low-level confusion.

We've used it ourselves more than once to calm each other down during stressful times (of which there were many). TIA has its uses as a calming mantra, but it's fair to question whether the term is reductive.

Even today, Africa is widely perceived as a homogeneous entity. Kenyan author and journalist Binyavanga Wainaina satirizes this beautifully in his essay How to Write About Africa: "In your writing, treat Africa as if it were a country. It's hot and dusty with rolling grasslands and huge herds of animals and tall, thin people starving. Or it's hot and humid with very small people eating primates. Don't get bogged down in precise descriptions."

There have been websites, apps and Twitter accounts challenging experts who treat Africa as a single country - but even Africans acknowledge that Africa as a whole has problems.

Me in Africa: why can't we get it, what's wrong with us, why are we like this?

Me everywhere else: Africa is not a country, damn it, it is a continent of nations completely different in color and language, to be precise, this reductive imperialism is the root of all our woes https://t.co/24XLc0SSth

– Nesrine Malik (@NesrineMalik) December 13, 2017

Nesrine Malik's suffering was echoed by several people on our travels, most of whom had started or were trying to start businesses in African countries.

Haile, a hotelier from Gonder, Ethiopia, explained the temporary lack of electricity, hot water and Wi-Fi with a sad smile and “This is Africa.”

Camie, a Djibouti-based merchant, told us that the Djiboutian government recently lifted its visa-on-arrival facility for tourists. The repeal lasted five days until angry local businessmen helped overturn it. These five days happened to coincide with an international trade fair designed to strengthen the country's economy. Camie shrugged plaintively. “This is Africa.”

TIA arguably synthesizes an accepted truth. It's a reassuring mantra and a knowing nod to the current state of affairs, but does its use so casually perpetuate harmful stereotypes?

Yes, say several luminaries. TIA has a number of negative consequences that are worth investigating.

TIA promotes negative stereotypes

Jacqueline Muna Musiitwa, founder and managing partner of Hoja Law Group in Rwanda, says: "Although I surround myself with Afro-optimists, I have never heard TIA in a positive context. As such, it perpetuates negative stereotypes of Africa."

“Africa for Norway” gently mocks stereotypes about Africa

Lawyer and activist Rosalia Gitau agrees: "Since the Live Aid movement captured the hearts and wallets of people in the Western world, the pale-faced Ethiopian child has become the symbol of Africa: exotic, needy and victim. But Africa is so much more than that. The continent is home to a multitude of languages, cultures, skin colors, histories, ambitions, dreams and futures."

TIA hinders human connection

Author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie says lumping all African nations together hinders human connection. In her 2009 TED Talk, she shares her experience of studying in the US as a teenager: "My American roommate was shocked by me. She asked where I learned English so well and was confused when I said Nigeria happened to have English as an official language."

alt=”Author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was asked how she came to speak English (her country’s official language).”>TED; Fair useAuthor Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has warned of the dangers of a “one story”.

Adichie elaborates: "What struck me was this: She felt sorry for me even before she saw me. Her default attitude toward me as an African was a kind of condescending, well-meaning pity. My roommate had a single story of Africa: a single story of disaster. In that single story, there was no possibility of Africans being in any way like her, no possibility of feelings more complex than pity, no possibility of connection as human equals."

Adichie concludes: “Of course Africa is a continent full of disasters... But there are other stories that are not about disasters and it is very important, it is just as important to talk about them.”

TIA influences the economy

TIA, or the mindset it represents, can harm the stable countries of the continent. If civil war breaks out in the Democratic Republic of Congo, it could impact tourism to countries as far away as Senegal and Swaziland.

If Ebola is found in Guinea, it could affect visitor numbers in Botswana and Namibia. The amalgamation of 54 different nations means that they are unfairly tied together - for better or worse.

TIA creates apathy

Rosalia Gitau says that TIA creates apathy. On the topic of corruption, she says: "[It is] a global crime. It affects everyone, everywhere, without distinction. Black, white, woman, man, rich or poor - corruption is a true equal rights sinner.

But why is corruption so universal even though we don't know what it is? Because we give it euphemistic expressions like “this is life” or “c’est la vie” or TIA. We assume that people get things done by “cutting some corners,” “greasing some hands,” or “looking the other way.” This social apathy and the epithets associated with it must stop now.”

Jacqueline Muna Musiitwa agrees: "Africa is changing rapidly and the idea of ​​TIA hinders the intellectual development of these changes. How can you expect change to happen if you constantly repeat a vote of no confidence by expecting the worst or expressing shock when the worst does not happen?"

>Atlas & BootsTIA: “How can you expect change if you keep repeating a vote of no confidence?”

The revered British writer and critic AA Gill once said, "You understand Africa or you don't understand it," as if the continent exists to serve a purpose rather than merely exist. At Atlas & Boots we noticed a clear difference between Ethiopia (very challenging) and Djibouti (very easy). We loved Mauritius but hated Morocco. Egypt was fun, as was Tunisia, and both were different from Kenya and Tanzania.

Maybe it's not about whether you understand Africa or not; Maybe it's because there isn't one Africa.

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