There’s more to Africa than war, famine and poverty ... there’s beauty, complexity and diversity too
Ade Adepitan, 45, is on a journey to uncover how modern Africa is changing in a new four-part docu-series, Africa With Ade Adepitan. The presenter tells GEMMA DUNN why the stories and people he meets makes this one of the most exciting continents on Earth
What are you hoping to achieve with new BBC2 series Africa With Ade Adepitan?
I WAS hoping, really, to try and change the narrative on Africa, and the preconceptions that people have had in the past.
(I want) to show that there’s more to Africa than just war and famine and poverty – there’s the beauty of it, the complexity of the people, the diversity of the continent.
A lot of people just see Africa as one place, when it’s – what, 50 countries? Close to 50 countries. And it’s just incredible. The people are so different, the language is so different, the food is different, and it’s stunning. It’s a beautiful place.
Given the vastness of the continent, how did you choose where to visit and which stories to tell?
WELL, it’s the wonderful production team that I have behind me that make me look good – all the people that work in the background and spend a lot of time looking for the stories, looking for the contributors.
I think it’s about finding a country, or finding stories within the countries, and finding characters that we really feel can drive the narrative and push us along.
From West Africa through to central, eastern, and on to the deep south, you cover a lot of ground. Which country surprised you most?
THE one that surprised me – or left me in awe at its potential – was probably The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Just its vastness, its beauty, the amount of resources there, and the people – they’ve got this vibrancy about them.
I was getting this overriding tone throughout my journey in Africa, which is that people are fed up; they’re tired of war and conflict and corruption, they want something better. It made me look at the bigger picture and see how we, here in Europe, are wanting to break up.
I’m not going to say the ‘B’ word – but what that split might mean for nationalism, these guys have seen it on their doorsteps.
Can you elaborate?
FOR us generally, when we have conflict, our guys fly away to far-off countries and we don’t really get to see or understand what they’ve been through. But the people that I met in Africa, they’ve seen it.
For the last 20 years, their neighbours have fought neighbours, they’ve had to dodge snipers to get to school, they’ve dealt with extreme poverty, and they don’t want any more. We don’t want to go down that road.
The human race has this frustrating ability to repeat cycles and make mistakes again and again, and I can see there are some valuable lessons to learn from Africa.
Do you have a highlight from your time on the continent?
THE gorillas in DRC were wonderful, man. For someone like me who grew up in Newham, East London, the last thing I was expecting to be was a few feet away from mountain gorillas!
Watching those gorillas play with the wardens and gamekeepers was incredible; I really wanted to get down there and just hang with the gorillas. I was told there was a number of reasons why I couldn’t – partly because we carry diseases that can be transmitted to the gorillas, but also because I would’ve been like a new toy.
It would’ve picked me up by the wheelchair and there would be nothing anyone could do about it.
How tricky was it to navigate Africa in a wheelchair?
I ALWAYS knew it was going to be difficult, but do you know what, using the London Underground is difficult.
I just had to be properly prepared and use the right equipment – make sure I had the right tyres.
I also used my crutches quite a lot, but watching (the show back), there’s a lot of times where the journey is highlighted.
It wasn’t something that we purposefully did, but it’s important that people see that if you have a disability, you can do these things, you can travel to these places.
You just have to be prepared.
There’s a lot to be learnt from this show per se, but how did the trip impact on you personally?
IT’S funny – it’s actually made me more wary of nationalism.
It’s made me feel that we should try and connect more with people from other countries, because I look at a lot of the conflicts in Africa and they tend to come from different tribes, different regions, trying to assert their power and trying to create opportunities for themselves.
I just feel we need to rise above that; we need to find a way, collectively, as a race, to move forward. Because actually the biggest issue that is facing us all is climate change, and it’s something that we’re only going to be able to deal with as a whole planet.
It’s important, then, that this series is seen by a wider audience?
YEAH, definitely. One of the big reasons I wanted to make this series is because I really want documentaries to get out there to a younger audience.
Now listen, I love the BBC2 audience – the 60-year-old women in Middle England, please watch, please! – but I also want the youngsters to watch as well because a lot of what they’re going to see is going to affect them, and I hope it will empower them.
■ Africa With Ade Adepitan starts on BBC2 tomorrow at 9pm.