“Africa 3.0” is the culmination of a ten-year journalistic investigation into the next era in Africa’s evolution. The term assumes the confluence of two momentous phenomena—the disengagement of African governments from the neoliberal sphere, and the turning towards the world’s most powerful emerging markets. Where Africa 1.0 refers to a continent unencumbered by European interference, and Africa 2
.0 the age of colonialism and early post-independence, Africa 3.0 speaks of a continent articulating fresh and distinctive forms. This latest era is marked by seismic social change, rapid infrastructural development, and economic growth rates to match the highest in the world. Since 2006, journalists Kevin Bloom and Richard Poplak have been seeking out the catalysts and characters behind Africa’s 21st century metamorphosis. The writers have eschewed the conference centres and the five-star hotels, preferring the “unvarnished” stories that tell the larger tale. They have travelled deep into the Central African bush, throughout South Sudan, across the Niger Delta; they have met with presidents and peasants, visited the war zones and the capital cities in order to properly understand how the new Africa works. In this dynamic, ever-changing landscape, Bloom and Poplak have studied the intersection of risk tolerance, ingenuity and hard work, to deliver on-the-ground knowledge of the forces that shape transformation. This FB page, aside from documenting aspects of the Bloom/Poplak journey, acts as a curated space—the writers highlight and exhibit the work of novelists, filmmakers, academics, researchers, journalists, artists and photographers who both explain and enlarge the Africa 3.0 concept. It is also a conversational space—feedback and dialogue are essential. To book the Africa3.0 corporate talk, contact Kevin Bloom at +27 (0)83 254 2616 or Richard Poplak at +27 (0)79 108 2479
