EXTRA: Wakanda was more talked about than any African business in 2018

Victor Oladokun, director of communications at the African Development Bank (AfDB), says Wakanda was a part of more discussions than any African business or sports in 2018.

The AfDB director made this known while addressing the press at the ongoing annual meetings of the bank in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.

“In 2018, the most talked about African country was the fictitious nation of Wakanda. More was spoken of Wakanda than about African business, sports or development,” he said.

Oladokun explained that this was the result of a study carried out by the University of Southern California.

Results of the research showed that Wakanda was only ranked behind Egypt, South Africa and Kenya.

Wakanda is a fictitious African country from Marvel’s 2018 movie, ‘Black Panther’.

“What I am trying to say is that we are all partners in development and we cannot outsource our narratives. We cannot also debrand ourselves. The extent that we debrand ourselves is the extent that development will not come into the continent,” he explained.

“As we speak, there are youths trying to traverse through the desert or Meditteranean because of a lack of hope. There are real problems but there are lots of great things happening on the continent.”

Commenting on the situation, Akin Adesina, president of the AfDB, expressed the opinion that the future of African youth is not in Europe.

“I don’t believe that the future of African youth is in Europe or the bottom of the Mediterranean or the heat of the Sahara.”