Western countries recently have begun debating the logic behind foreign aid to Africa, wondering why billions of dollars have yielded little progress over decades. Yet this conversation–with its prescriptions for the likes of the World Bank, G8, and United Nations–continues to neglect what ordinary Africans are doing on a daily basis to enact change. Nigerian-American journalist Dayo Olopade has seen firsthand how people across the continent are improving their lives and countries through business, technological, and social innovation. Countless urban farmers feed their families on unclaimed plots of land. A Kenyan nonprofit built a mapping application that successfully combated election fraud and violence. And then there’s Nollywood, the Nigerian film industry that produces 2,000 movies and generates $250 million in revenue per year. These are just a few examples of how Africans are solving their own problems and creating new opportunities for themselves. Olopade, author of The Bright Continent: Breaking Rules and Making Change in Modern Africa, visits Zócalo to tell their stories and offer a new way of seeing Africa’s future.

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