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The Bright Continent: Breaking Rules and Making Change in Modern Africa Hardcover – March 4, 2014

by Dayo Olopade (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 121 ratings
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The path to progress in Africa lies in the surprising and innovative solutions Africans are finding for themselves

Africa is a continent on the move. It’s often hard to notice, though—the Western focus on governance and foreign aid obscures the individual dynamism and informal social adaptation driving the past decade of African development. Dayo Olopade set out across sub-Saharan Africa to find out how ordinary people are dealing with the challenges they face every day. She discovered an unexpected Africa: resilient, joyful, and innovative, a continent of DIY changemakers and impassioned community leaders.

Everywhere Olopade went, she witnessed the specific creativity born from African difficulty—a trait she began calling kanju. It’s embodied by bootstrapping innovators like Kenneth Nnebue, who turned his low-budget, straight-to-VHS movies into a multimillion-dollar film industry known as Nollywood. Or Soyapi Mumba, who helped transform cast-off American computers into touchscreen databases that allow hospitals across Malawi to process patients in seconds. Or Ushahidi, the Kenyan technology collective that crowdsources citizen activism and disaster relief.

The Bright Continent calls for a necessary shift in our thinking about Africa. Olopade shows us that the increasingly globalized challenges Africa faces can and must be addressed with the tools Africans are already using to solve these problems themselves. Africa’s ability to do more with less—to transform bad government and bad aid into an opportunity to innovate—is a clear ray of hope amidst the dire headlines and a powerful model for the rest of the world.

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  1. Print length
    288 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  4. Publication date
    March 4, 2014
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 1.11 x 9 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    9780547678313
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0547678313
  8. See all details
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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
121 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book insightful, fascinating, and educational. They also describe the writing quality as well-written, excellent, and a real masterpiece.

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InsightWriting qualityEntertainment value
17 customers mention "Insight"17 positive0 negative

Customers find the book insightful, fascinating, and educational. They say it provides perspective on what is and what is possible in sub-Saharan Africa. Readers also mention the book is engaging and well-written.

"In The Bright Continent you will find a collection well reported stories of Africa's emergence and a theory that Africa's rise is based on..." Read more

"...what this book suggests, the community thrives and contain intelligent and proud people who appreciate the lending hand in their water reclamation..." Read more

"I loved the examples of imagination and creativity used when people lack something they need. Good lesson for us all to remember...." Read more

"...Olopade is a wonderful story teller who has written a page-turner. The Bright Continent has a thoughtful perspective...." Read more

11 customers mention "Writing quality"11 positive0 negative

Customers find the book well-written, excellent, and insightful. They appreciate the forceful writing and masterful journalism. Readers also mention the book is told in a smart, sympathetic, and fun voice.

"...stories come from across Sub-Saharan Africa and they are told in a voice that is smart, sympathetic, and fun...." Read more

"...Through this well-written book, Olopade is shattering the dominant Western perception of Africa as a poor and corrupt continent prone to disease and..." Read more

"...Masterful journalism." Read more

"Well-written book by Dayo Olopade outlining a new set of maps (and perspectives) from which to view and analyse development in Africa...." Read more

3 customers mention "Entertainment value"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book entertaining and funny. They appreciate the masterful journalism and new ideas from Africa.

"...Africa and they are told in a voice that is smart, sympathetic, and fun...." Read more

"...categorize, and present her analysis so succinctly and be entertaining at the same time. Masterful journalism." Read more

"Brilliant, funny, new ideas out of Africa..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

Walter R Lamberson
5.0 out of 5 stars Good News from Africa
Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2014
Verified Purchase
In The Bright Continent you will find a collection well reported stories of Africa's emergence and a theory that Africa's rise is based on individuals solving their own problems rather than waiting for an outside world that repeatedly misunderstands the continent. While Africa has weak governments--a reality that is all too well reported--if you look in the right places, you'll find the good news not in aid, but in how Africans are solving their own problems outside of foreign support and despite their governments. It's a refreshing departure from the typical state-centric indictment of African development. The stories come from across Sub-Saharan Africa and they are told in a voice that is smart, sympathetic, and fun. Anyone interested in Africa, and anyone interested in stories of people solving problems outside of a conventional state-based framework will enjoy The Bright Continent.
2 people found this helpful
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Gil Cabrera
4.0 out of 5 stars Dark continent no more.
Reviewed in the United States on September 26, 2014
Verified Purchase
Enjoyed it even though the first couple long chapters were setup. They were filled with catchphrases and rants on the pros and cons of NGOs (for one thing) The subsequent stories and events made all the more sense because of them.
Being a volunteer with Engineers Without Borders, we have reviewed this book in our quarterly book club. Mainly because it is pertinent with a couple of our ongoing projects, in many countries including Africa. The books read are mainly to educate our members who would travel to remote sites on how the culture evolves in those locations, this book provides excellent examples of that. And the feedback on how NGOs can improve the evaluations on how aid is to be developed and distributed is instructive speaks greatly to our ongoing agenda. Admittedly our organization already follow some of the advice of the book, community involvement etc, but some others are a great suggestions and worth exploring.
Those of us who have travelled to these communities already discovered what this book suggests, the community thrives and contain intelligent and proud people who appreciate the lending hand in their water reclamation or sanitation projects but continue to run with the upkeep and maintenance of those projects when we depart. The keyword here being 'Their'. The projects are what they request and the implementation is conducted with their involvement. This guarantees project success and longevity.
One person found this helpful
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Navi Radjou, co-author, Jugaad Innovation, Frugal Innovation, and From Smart To Wise
5.0 out of 5 stars Africa: A vast breeding ground for frugal innovation
Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2014
Verified Purchase
I preordered the book and received it this morning. I read it with great excitement as fast as I could -- and was not disappointed.

Through this well-written book, Olopade is shattering the dominant Western perception of Africa as a poor and corrupt continent prone to disease and famine. She vividly describes how the entire African continent is teeming with ingenious entrepreneurs who can overcome great adversity to create frugal and sustainable solutions for their local communities. These modern-day alchemists are able to transmute constraints into opportunity and generate greater social value at lower cost. Their secret weapon, according to Olopade, is "kanju" -- a frugal, flexible, and inclusive mindset that enables them to see the glass as always half full and do much more with a lot less.

This resourceful kanju spirit reminds me of jugaad -- a Hindi word meaning the gutsy ability to improvise cost-effective solutions with limited resources in adverse circumstances. In my own book, I described how millions of grassroots entrepreneurs in India apply jugaad to overcome their every day challenges. These Indian entrepreneurs would be thrilled to discover, through Olopade's book, that their African brothers and sisters are equally pioneering a new approach to innovating faster, better, and cheaper.

In the West, this new frugal and flexible approach is being called "frugal innovation" and is gradually gaining traction in the academic and corporate world. I strongly encourage entrepreneurs, CEOs, academics, and policy-makers in the West to read The Bright Continent to understand how Africa is a breeding ground of frugal innovation -- and provides the entire world a proven blueprint for building inclusive and sustainable economies.
20 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Vicky
5.0 out of 5 stars An Exemplar of the real modern-day Africa.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 28, 2014
Verified Purchase
An impressive book with a great title, written with honesty and grit. I see it as the first modern book of its kind, informing how Africans are managing their day-to-day affairs with well-documented facts of using their own business acumen and intelligence that's working in the absence of Government-Aid. A real insight and interviews of Entrepreneurs and "Pro-Actives" using their own Master-plan, which the author has coined "Kanju" method of business.
This Book cuts-through the negative Perception continuously churned-out by the Western media.
This book should be an Exemplar of the real modern Africa.
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Edwin Underhill
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 19, 2015
Verified Purchase
Good explanation of life in modern Africa.
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