TATA FRIKY · 4 MIN

The Africa I know doesn't look like this

I typed 'Africa' into an image search. Lions, sunsets, a kid with no shoes. Where's my city?

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October 21, 2026

Tata Friky comparing images of Africa on her laptop

Tata Frikythinking out loud…

Thursday
Tata Frikyso I typed "Africa" in an image search10:40
for a school project. innocent. normal.
guess what came out
desert. a kid with no shoes. a lion. a sunset. another lion.
a giraffe looking at the sunset 💀
I scrolled for almost two minutes before I saw a building
Tata Friky
meanwhile I'm sitting in a café with wifi, eating a croissant, in a city with traffic jams and a mall
the Africa I know has group chats. and potholes. and fashion shows. and my auntie's shop. and lagoons. and 4G that works when it wants.
Kossibut the desert and the lions are real tho
Tata Frikybut the desert and the lions are real thoyes Kossi. thank you Kossi. that's actually the important part.
okay let me be fair. those photos are not fake.
there ARE kids without shoes. there ARE deserts. there ARE lions (not in my neighbourhood, I checked 💀)
the problem isn't that these pictures exist. it's that they're almost the ONLY pictures.
•••
there's a talk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie called "The danger of a single story". she says it better than me:
when people only hear one story about a place, they think it's the whole story.
Tata Frikywww.ted.comThe danger of a single story · Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
and guys, I've seen the effect multiple times:
someone abroad asked my cousin if we have cars. CARS 💀
an exchange student was shocked my phone was newer than hers
and the worst one: WE start believing it. we see the same images and think "yeah, Africa = problem".
so who chooses these pictures?
often not us. photographers passing through, campaigns raising money, news that only shows up when something goes wrong.
a crisis travels fast online. a normal Tuesday in Cotonou, not so much.
Tata Friky
Nadiabut we also don't post our normal life. we post food and selfies 😭
Tata Frikybut we also don't post our normal life. we post food and selfies 😭Nadia attacking me personally today. but she's right.
if we don't show our cities, our markets, our new bridges, our grandmothers' gardens… who will?
•••
so where do I land?
I don't want to hide the problems. pretending everything is perfect is ALSO a single story.
I want the full picture. the kid with no shoes AND the kid building a robot. same continent. same week.
Tata FrikyAfrikyf · storywhy every african child should meet a robot
Afrikyf has a Week Goal about exactly this. it comes back in January, but you can start today: post one place near you that shows Africa differently.
Tata FrikyAFRIKYF WEEK GOAL · G11 · Coming back soonDiscover African PlacesExplore the goal ↗
and this one shows the people making African cities easier to live in. that's the Africa I want people to find when they search.
Tata FrikyAfrikyf · storypeople making african cities easier to live in
Tata Friky
When you search "Africa" online, what shows up first?
go check and come back. I'll wait 💀