This archive report was first published on 26 July 2019.
Published on July 26, 2019, Larry Madowo's article, 'Africa is doing just fine – it's the coverage by Western media that is behind the times,' has ignited a firestorm of reactions from the online community.
The BBC Africa Business Editor argues that the Western media often portrays Africa as a continent plagued with war, famine, and disease, while ignoring its many positive developments.
He highlights the continent's rapid growth in internet connectivity, the adoption of mobile money transactions, and the ban on plastics as examples of Africa's progress.
'It is easy to caricature Africa and define it narrowly using its wars, famine, and disease, but that is lazy and misguided,' Madowo writes.
However, his views have not gone unchallenged. Daniel Knowles from The Economist responded, 'Rwanda has more female parliamentarians than anywhere else, but also they don’t matter at all, because it has one dictator (a man) who murders anyone who disagrees.'
Madowo quickly fired back, saying, 'And here we see a journalist with The Economist whitesplaining Africa to an African.'
The exchange has sparked a lively debate on social media, with many Kenyans rallying behind Madowo and praising his article.
