“How Not to Write About Africa” is a piece written by Binyavanga Wainaina, who I had the pleasure of meeting while I was in Nairobi. Nathaniel posted this video on today’s “Daily Entrepreneur” and I felt I should repost it for my readers.

I’ve written before of my disappointment in the US News Media for their poor coverage of global affairs. In the US, more so than any other country I believe, we have been raised with the notion that Africa is a destitute place ridden with poverty, disease, corruption and war. We never see the images of the lively business hubs, the entrepreneurs, or even the large and growing middle classes.

One of the initiatives of the social capital and business-for-development movement is to assist in rebranding Africa as the continent of wealth and opportunity that most of us have had the pleasure of seeing. We seek to illustrate the bright side of the continent that you don’t easily find in the news. Perception is such a critical determinant of investment, and it’s something I work on with Transparency Solutions.

But there’s another side to the coin that came up in a discussion at the Global Engagement Summit. In the arena of “social enterprise” (both for-profit and non-profit), we are faced with a paradox of sorts: We want to present the image that I described above of a place full of wealth and opportunity, but we don’t want to lose track entirely of the social importance. We are forced to ask, to what degree should images of poverty, huger, disease etc. be used when presenting an argument for investment? After all, they are strong and powerful images that serve as a reminder to the social-end of our work and they provoke awareness, discussion, and action.

What are your thoughts? Leave a comment!