A TV crew placed themselves and a world map on a busy street in Los Angeles and asked random people to name a country, any country. A few people identified Africa as a country and another pointed to West Africa and stated: “I know South Africa is here somewhere”. This segment of Jimmy Kimmel Live was incredibly funny and a revelation of some people’s lack of knowledge of world geography in general.
However, consider this, most people don’t KNOW Africa.
Sure, most of us know it’s a continent and that there are countries & people in there with poverty, lions and elephants but that's all people tend to know. Africa is not just a poverty-stricken continent or a place for safaris, it is a continent teeming with nature, culture, sport, history and every other aspect of life experienced anywhere else in the world. It is home to cultural centres, academic institutions, great revolutionaries and outstanding artists in any field and as such it is a melting pot of knowledge and experiences, some unique only to Africa. Knowing Africa is not just knowing about its geography, wildlife or its socio-economic problems, it is knowing everything that makes this behemoth of a continent what it is. So, in a bid to help the world KNOW Africa, we created Trivia Africa.
Trivia Africa is a freely available iOS & Android mobile application that, much like many other quiz apps, challenges the player’s general knowledge. However, unlike many quiz apps, its content is Africa-related (the name gives it away, to be honest). The app consists of hundreds of multiple-choice questions spanning 7 categories to challenge one's knowledge of Africa with fun game modes and a flag quiz. In creating Trivia Africa, it was imperative to create a quiz that would span the breadth and depth of Africa, to leave no stone of African knowledge unturned. This approach provides a two-fold benefit to anyone who uses the app. Firstly, it is a challenge to those who have a working knowledge of certain aspects of Africa and secondly, it is a learning experience for those who want to learn more about other aspects.
Most people who have used the app have usually fed back with a singular realisation, “I don’t really know Africa”. Oddly, this is the lesson we were glad to learn about the effect Trivia Africa had on its users. By accepting that one’s knowledge is lacking, we hoped that an awakening of the need to learn about Africa in both Africans & non-Africans alike would take place and they would learn about the beautiful continent. There is immense value in understanding Africa because of what it has given and is giving the world in terms of people, culture, resources and so much more. Furthermore, with over 1 billion residents, a young population, emerging and growing markets, African countries are poised to be future global leaders. As it stands, African countries are considered at the bottom, and at Dopefrica we believe that the only way for Africa is up.
