AFRICA, A CONTINENT brimming with beauty and diversity, has produced some of the finest minds and most incredible ideas, be it in business, science, art, or entertainment, thus debunking the many myths, misconceptions, and stereotypes about the continent from the Western world.

The continent boasts six of the world’s fastest-growing economies. Many outside of the realm of Africa are unaware that Nollywood (Nigeria’s film industry) is technically larger than Hollywood in terms of the number of films produced every year. The current OTT platforms are witness to this; as they have seen the release of several Nollywood films including the recently-released love story Namaste Wahala on Netflix.

The World Bank released a report in October 2020 stating that despite the fact that Covid-19 has disrupted many of the continent’s economies, Africa could make a recovery this year due to “the diverse continent offering human and natural resources that have the potential to yield inclusive growth and wipe out poverty in the region, enabling Africans across the continent to live healthier and more prosperous lives”. The list of innovations, inventions and icons (in no particular order) on the pages that follow are testament to the ingenuity of the African mind and spirit of resilience and Afro-optimism. The future is good.