Futurica

Rahma Ben Lazreg

The Future of Africa

Greetings and welcome to my futuristic insight of Mama Africa. I will start with defining the frame, terms and fundamental aspects of what I called Futurica : The future of Africa. The Idea emerged mainly from the term Afrofuturism, yet I decided to name it differently so it reflects my personal vision of the future.

Since the initial emergence of this idea was inspired by Afrofuturism I will go ahead and define the term. For some of you, it may sound familiar and for others, they might seek a definition inspired by movies and stories that have been told around this, such as Black Panther.

Afrofuturism is the reimagining of a future filled with arts, science and technology, seen through a black lens. The term was conceived a quarter of a century ago by author Mark Dery, which examines speculative fiction within the African diaspora. Yet, Afrofuturism is not just that, it also requires a deep understanding of the African past and culture. 

Now, to define the frame, I would invite you to travel with me to 2050 and sit next to me on a bench right under a transparent electro bubble. That transparent bubble is connected to high technology, and it has screens and data whenever you need them to appear. It separates us from the external world, yet allows us to still admire how it looks. I have booked this electro bubble just for our meeting so I can brief you on what happened after you had travelled to space in 2021.  

The first thing you have to know is that everything became digital, from administration work, education, financial systems to every sort of work. Operations were conducted remotely or through robots. The entire world is turning into a digital sphere full of Data and information. Africa, like other continents, took a huge part in this movement and it became now more connected than ever. Money is no longer used. We all use special applications and e-currencies for transactions. 

Brain drain was no longer permitted since you can have everything at home right in front of your smart screen. Knowledge was hence easy to access. The entire world took part in the research and development that happened in the pre-phase of total digitalization.

This change has its cons and pros. Africa succeeded in subtracting the pros. It pleases me to say that thanks to digitalization; we are saving the planet. How? Well now, we use little paper, the global consumption of paper is down by 70%! Cutting down trees became partially illegal since we don’t actually need to. People didn’t get outside of their homes for long periods, and that helped in reducing the consumption of fuel. 

African leaders worked to use renewable energies in a more sustainable manner. Services and products were only consumed rationally, and unnecessary needs got abolished.    

Everything seemed to work well and people got used to the digital world. However, in 2039 a digital/ Value war started. Because of the lack of contact and connexion among people, they have lost their humanity. People became egocentric, cold and inhuman. Most of them decided they don’t need to start families. The reproduction rate took a tremendous hit. People started to only care about data and how to collect as much data as they can, in order to use it to have power and access. 

That was the war starting point. Data was hacked and badly used all over the globe. No one was safe. As sophisticated data governance systems were, they couldn’t help to stop the maleficent intuition of people. The world then regretted losing the human connection for the sake of digitalisation. Security systems got hacked and everyone was panicking. The war lasted over 6 years until the emergence of a female leader who changed things around in Africa. Her name was Abeni; the girl we prayed for. Abeni was an Ubuntu ambassador, in the middle of the chaos she saw the light of humanity and started an awareness movement. 

Abeni’s principles were 3.

The first one is: Data governance will be inefficient as long as maleficent intuitions still exist among humans.

The second is: The African future is by us and from us.

The third is: Let mother earth unite humans as long as we still exist on this planet. 

Abeni’s principles got spread all over Africa, her wisdom and focus helped Africa heal from the lack of humanity. While other nations fought the battle against data, Abeni understood that they were fighting the wrong enemy. She believes in the importance of restoring the human connection while maintaining the benefits of digitalization. Unlike the rumors stating that she was an anti-digitalisation rebel, she actually appreciated the digital world and used it to spread her mission. In less than 3 years, the African people chose her as our leader. We followed on her steps and we restored peace and prosperity in Africa.

Thanks to her, Africa was distinct from the rest of the world that still fights until today the selfishness and inhumanity of its population.

Together we used data to further protect our planet. Protecting the environment along with good human values was what Africa did best. The human bond grew even stronger as we shifted our goal to preserve nature.

One of Abeni’s best inventions is a value-centric compensation system. The more human and the more good deeds you do, you become wealthier and more powerful in society. Now the rest of the world is trying to study the African future in the hope they can be inspired so they can restore peace as Africa did. 

Summary

A total global digitalisation that will eventually lead to a wholesome futuristic Africa; where the feminine ethos plays a major role in installing and maintaining values and human connection.

The emergence of Abeni the leader who connects African once again marks the era. People are represented by a merging of data, spirituality and core human values.