Can We Build A Better Understanding Of Africa?

Part 1 of TED Radio Hour episode Africa: The Next Chapter. You can watch the three TED Talks featured in this segment — Ory Okolloh On Becoming An Activist, Chimamanda Adichie: The Danger Of A Single Story and Eleni Gabre-Madhin On Ethiopian Economics — on TED.com.

TED team member Emeka Okafor guides us through three TEDTalks on some evolving views (and misconceptions) of the African continent — from outside and in.

About Ory Okolloh's Talk

In her talk, On Becoming An Activist, Ory Okolloh tells the story of her life and her family — and how she came to do her heroic work reporting on the doings of Kenya's parliament.

About Ory Okolloh

Ory Okolloh is a blogger and open-government activist. She runs Mzalendo, a pioneering civic website that tracks the performance of Kenya's parliament and its parliamentarians. Okolloh is part of a wave of young Africans who are using the power of blogging, SMS and Web-enabled openness to push their countries forward and help Africans to connect.

About Chimamanda Adichie's Talk

In her talk, The Danger Of A Single Story, novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice — and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.

About Chimamanda Adichie

In Nigeria, Chimamanda Adichie's novel Half of a Yellow Sun has helped inspire new, cross-generational communication about the Biafran War. In this and in her other works, she seeks to instill dignity into the finest details of each character, whether poor, middle-class or rich, exposing the deep scars of colonialism in the African landscape along the way.

About Eleni Gabre-Madhin's Talk

In her talk, On Ethiopian Economics, economist Eleni Gabre-Madhin outlines her ambitious vision to found the first commodities market in Ethiopia. Her plan would create wealth, minimize risk for farmers, and turn the world's largest recipient of food aid into a regional food basket.

About Eleni Gabre-Madhin

Economist Eleni Gabre-Madhin has ambitious vision — to found the first commodities market in Ethiopia, bringing rates and standards to the trade of crops. The director of the International Food Policy Research Institute, Madhin studies market reforms, market institutions and structural transformation in Africa.

About TED Team Member Emeka Okafor

Emeka Okafor is an entrepreneur and venture catalyst who lives in New York City. He is the curator of Maker Faire Africa. He was the director for TED Global 2007 that took place in Arusha,Tanzania, and is a member of the TED fellowship team. His interests include sustainable technologies in the developing world and paradigm-breaking technologies in general. His blog, Timbuktu Chronicles, seeks to spur dialogue in areas of entrepreneurship, technology and the scientific method as it impacts Africa.

Copyright 2012 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.