Author Ajadi Launches ‘Afrilition’ Book to Challenge Afro-Pessimism

What changed

Author Ajadi has launched Afrilition, a book shaped partly by his experience of what he calls “Afro-pessimism”: the habit of seeing Africa mainly through problems and crises.

Why it matters

The launch puts narrative itself at the centre of the story. Ajadi is challenging a familiar way of describing Africa, arguing that crisis-heavy coverage can become the main lens through which the continent is understood.

That makes Afrilition a cultural intervention, not a documented policy or economic shift. Its wider influence will depend on whether it finds readers and changes how African stories are told.