Who’s entitled to speak for Africa?

If 21st century Africa is a story struggling for equality in the global community of stories, to paraphrase Africa’s most famous novelist, Chinua Achebe, then Bob Geldof, Bono, and international aid and charity organizations are not the only actors seeking a space in that narrative. Continental Africa too is seeking a space in her own story — the first step in telling and owning her own story. Eventually. For Western actors in the Mercy Industrial Complex, there is a story; for Africans, there are stories.