{"id":254359,"date":"2026-06-03T22:06:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T22:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/254359\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T22:06:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T22:06:10","slug":"africans-exploring-africa-the-new-york-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/254359\/","title":{"rendered":"Africans Exploring Africa – The New York Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A couple of years ago at a dinner, I was sitting next to a Nigerian nonprofit executive who divides her time between Washington and Lagos. Exasperated by persistent stereotypes about Africa, she told me about Ghana\u2019s edgy street-art scene, clubs in South Africa, fashion shows in Senegal and \u201cNollywood,\u201d Nigeria\u2019s booming film industry, which some years ago released a saucy television series about midlife crisis and menopause called \u201cFifty<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

It definitely made me want to visit some of these places. But Africa isn\u2019t just attracting intrigued Europeans like me. Today, my colleague Saikou Jammeh writes about the rise of African travelers who increasingly see their own continent as \u201csophisticated and worth exploring.\u201d<\/p>\n

For most of my life, the dream travel destinations for young Africans with money lay outside the continent. Everyone with cash to spare wanted their social media to be filled with photos from the Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es in Paris or Times Square in New York City.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why I\u2019ve been surprised by something I\u2019ve noticed over the past few years. In the summer of 2024, I moved to Dakar, the capital of Senegal. And ever since, I\u2019ve gotten a steady stream of texts from friends and acquaintances from other parts of Africa telling me they\u2019re in town. For work? For a conference? Nope \u2014 on holiday.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just my circle of friends. Something is changing when it comes to travel and Africa.<\/p>\n

The number of tourists visiting African countries grew by almost 8 percent last year \u2014 the fastest growth in the world, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization. This surge isn\u2019t being driven only by visitors from Europe or Asia. It\u2019s being driven in large part, experts say, by a growing African middle class that is exploring the continent for the first time. And the most visible travelers \u2014 millennials and Gen Z-ers \u2014 are changing African ideas about leisure, travel and even Africa itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cTravel is increasingly seen as part of identity and everyday life, rather than a luxury,\u201d said Jillian Blackbeard, chief executive of Africa\u2019s Eden, a nonprofit that promotes African tourism. \u201cAfrican travelers are viewing their own continent as aspirational, sophisticated and worth exploring.\u201d<\/p>\n

New flights and no visas<\/p>\n

Historically, the odds have been stacked against leisure travel here.<\/p>\n

Most Africans still need visas to visit other African countries. Flights, too, are a challenge. Prices for flights within Africa are some of the highest in the world, and there are few direct ones. (I once had to travel via Doha, Qatar, on my way from Gambia to Namibia.)<\/p>\n

But both issues have been improving in recent years.<\/p>\n

Demand for air travel within Africa has been growing<\/a>, and the more demand, the more airlines can put in place better routes. New airlines have sprung up across Africa; a journey from Accra, Ghana, to Johannesburg that once had to go through London or Dubai can now connect through, say, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, said Omoniyi Kolade, the chief executive of SeerBit, a company that handles cross-border transactions in Africa.<\/p>\n

And many countries, including Benin, Gambia, Kenya, Ghana and others, have scrapped visas for African passport holders in recent years. That shift, one travel influencer told me, has been a game changer.<\/p>\n

In Lagos, Nigeria\u2019s commercial capital, you can now spot advertisements for groups offering \u201cstress-free weekend getaways\u201d to neighboring Benin for around $150.<\/p>\n

In Dakar, I often pass by the African Renaissance Monument, an enormous bronze statue not far from where I live. Whenever I do, I hear languages and accents from across the continent. I see young people posing for photographs and filming videos that will, presumably, earn a spot on their social media timelines that might have once gone to Times Square.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeautiful Africa for Africans\u201d<\/p>\n

The perception of leisure tourism as a largely Western pursuit is changing, Blackbeard of Africa\u2019s Eden told me.<\/p>\n

Across Africa, television commercials and billboards promoting tourism largely feature Western-looking faces. But the internet has given rise to an explosion of travel entrepreneurs and social media influencers who are driving educated, urban young people here to see Africa as a big and beautiful place that is worth their time.<\/p>\n

Berthold Ackon, a Ghanaian travel influencer known online as Wode Maya, traveled to Zambia, in southern Africa, this spring. He was inspired by a trip the Ghanaian president took to Zambia in February, during which he wore a loose Ghanaian garment known as a fugu. The shirt set off a wave of baffled commentary on Zambian social media from people who weren\u2019t sure what they were seeing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it came from a place of ignorance because young people really do not know about the cultures of other African countries,\u201d Ackon told me.<\/p>\n

Ackon, who has visited 39 African countries, wanted to show his two million followers, mostly young people in Africa, how \u201clovely\u201d Zambia is. So he took a trip, showcasing the country\u2019s scenic landscapes alongside visits to local markets and conversations with ordinary Zambians. In one video he posted, completely soaked at the edge of Victoria Falls, he said, \u201cGod indeed took his time to create beautiful Africa for Africans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ackon had planned to visit Zambia for a week; he stayed for over a month.<\/p>\n

TOP NEWSIran attacked Kuwait<\/p>\n

One person was killed and dozens of others were injured at Kuwait\u2019s international airport yesterday after Iran fired a barrage of missiles and drones<\/a> at the country, Kuwait and the U.S. said. Tehran said the damage was caused by a U.S. defense system after it failed to intercept Iranian missiles.<\/p>\n

Video verified by The New York Times showed smoke and flames inside a terminal, where a gaping hole had been ripped in the roof. The latest flurry of attacks started after the U.S. military said that it had conducted strikes on an Iranian military facility on Qeshm Island, off the coast of Iran. The death in Kuwait is the first reported fatality in a Gulf state since the U.S. and Iran agreed to a cease-fire in April. Follow our live updates<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In Washington, President Trump confirmed that he had called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu \u201ccrazy<\/a>\u201d during a tense phone call on Monday and had used expletives to express his frustration with Israel\u2019s military campaign in Lebanon.<\/p>\n

OTHER NEWS<\/p>\n

Japan\u2019s population has fallen by more than three million people over the past five years as it faces an accelerating demographic crisis \u2014 a harbinger of the headwinds many other countries could soon face. The shrinking population, caused by one of the world\u2019s lowest birthrates, is already constraining economic growth, causing labor shortages and putting pressure on its health care system.<\/p>\n

MORNING READ<\/p>\n

Much has been said about Winston Churchill\u2019s leadership in periods of both war and peace. Less time has been spent assessing the hundreds of artworks he painted.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why a London museum has decided to put together a serious retrospective of his work. His paintings offer a glimpse into the inner life of one of the 20th century\u2019s defining figures. See them here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A bone of contention<\/p>\n

The tan street dogs known as caramelos, which roam Brazil by the millions, inspire just as much pride as football and samba. Once shunned and mistreated, they are celebrated in memes, cited in songs and honored with Carnival parade floats. Many see them as embodying Brazilians\u2019 own mixed heritage and adaptability.<\/p>\n

But the authorities in Mexico recently labeled the tawny dogs a Mexican treasure, declaring them a native breed much like the Chihuahua. Angered Brazilians say a national icon is being stolen from them.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can they say the caramelo is not Brazilian?\u201d said one woman in Rio de Janeiro, the owner of a bouncy, toffee-colored rescue called Mad\u00e2. \u201cIt\u2019s the face of Brazil.\u201d Read more about the dispute over dogs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This spicy, tangy vegan take on chile paneer<\/a> is inspired by Indo-Chinese cuisine, which emerged when Chinese immigrants in Kolkata, India, adapted their cooking style to suit local palates. The tofu is dusted in cornstarch before being pan-fried to lock in moisture, creating a crispy exterior that holds on to the sauce.<\/p>\n

WHERE IS THIS?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s it for today. See you tomorrow! \u2014 Katrin<\/p>\n

Saikou Jammeh was our guest writer today.<\/p>\n

We welcome your feedback. Send us your suggestions at theworld@nytimes.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A couple of years ago at a dinner, I was sitting next to a Nigerian nonprofit executive who…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":254360,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9489,2774,99129,99131,825,9,11,10,10921,99130],"class_list":["post-254359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-africa","tag-brazil","tag-churchill","tag-french-open-tennis","tag-japan","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-travel-and-vacations","tag-winston-leonard-spencer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254359"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254359\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}