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Continue reading →: 2015 Year in ReviewWishing all readers of the Afro Optimist, a happy and healthy 2016! I am keeping my fingers crossed for a more positive year because 2015 was quite rough! Well, for me personally, it was the best year of my life with my induction into parenthood. But, globally, there have been…
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Continue reading →: Where do you call home? The Plight of the AfropolitanLast year, writer and photographer, Taiye Selasi, made this compelling plea in her remarkable TED Talk: Don’t ask me where I’m from, ask me where I’m a local. Many first, second, third generation Africans living in their adopted homes will identify with the difficulty of answering a simple question: where are…
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Continue reading →: Living and Loving in the Rainbow NationMy first visit to South Africa in 1998 left me with mixed feelings. I had just completed high school and was doing some traveling before commencing university. On the one hand, it was an exciting time to be in South Africa – a new democracy! On the other hand, I…
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Continue reading →: 5 Things you didnt know about BotswanaA mere 5 hours drive from Joburg and yet, a visit to Botswana remains on my bucket list. Sigh. I wish I could have waited to visit before writing a blog about Botswana but I couldn’t wait. I’ve just returned from a workshop in Mauritius (yes, I live a hard life)…
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Continue reading →: The Awesome Foursome: 4 African Women You Need To KnowThese four African women have one thing in common. They serve or have served at some point, as Minister of Finance, which in my biased view, is the most important position in government, after President. Although I’ve highlighted these women, you may be surprised to learn that since 2000, 22 countries…
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Continue reading →: Capturing The Wild in The Dark“Nowhere can you get completely close to lions and other animals and still be completely safe” – The Johannesburg Lion Park.Okay – so this was before the recent tragedy when an American tourist opened her car window to photograph a lion and tragically lost her life. All the same, if…
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Continue reading →: A Contemporary African Screenplay by Nana BoatengThis blog features my first screenplay after completing a course on filmmaking. The story, told in a Ghanaian setting, is about a typical day in the life of a woman who has to balance her personal life as a single mother of two and her demanding professional life advising her government…
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Continue reading →: The S FactorSUN, SIGHTS, SAND and SEA are probably all the reasons you need to choose a North African destination for a much deserved holiday. If you are considering East Africa, you must be thinking SAFARI and coastal SHORES. If you can dig a little deeper in your pocket, Southern Africa offers all…
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Continue reading →: Of Camels and HipposProfessor Matt Andrews, at the Harvard Kennedy School, likes to open his seminars with this ice breaker: Imagine you are stranded on a desert with no food or water and in the scorching heat, if you are not rescued soon enough, you will likely die. Luckily you have a choice…
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Continue reading →: Are you an African or an African’t?If you suddenly became unemployed, are you creative and bold enough to make a living? As opposed to moving back to your parents house and sending out endless job applications – as I probably would be doing. Recently a friend from high school asked me when I would be returning…
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I’m the Afrooptmist (Nana)
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