Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is one of the most promising young literary talents that Africa has produced in the last two decades.

She is a fierce ambassador of the continent and whenever I listen to her, my pride in #Africa balloons to dizzying heights.

Like I always say, Africa is a great “product” that suffers from bad marketing. Our continent has a serious image problem.

And the single biggest reason why Africa is so misunderstood in the world is due to a dark, stinging, and negative stereotype – a single negative story.

In this wonderful speech, Chimamanda explains that “the consequence of a single story is it robs people of their dignity. It emphasizes how we are different, rather than how we are similar.”

While most of the world only knows Africa for its conflicts, corruption, and poverty, most do not know about the creativity and entrepreneurship of our youth, the breathtaking beauty of our continent, and how surprisingly optimistic we are as a people.

This is a good time to watch this impressive speech again.

Let’s go, Africa!

Video credit: TED