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Africa is changing fast, and as more people move for work, education, and opportunity, families are becoming increasingly spread out. But what does that mean for the people growing old back home? In this episode, I sit down with Yemi Danmola, founder of Iyaniwura Elders Oasis, a free daytime social center for women 70+ in Lagos. We talk about how an idea inspired by her grandmother became a growing community for older women, what it actually took to build and manage it from New York, and how migration is changing caregiving in African families. From the realities of building back home to a 94-year-old woman who found a whole new group of friends, this conversation challenges us to think differently about aging, community, and what development should look like for every generation. Learn more about Iyaniwura Elders Oasis below: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iyaniwuraoasis/Website: https://www.iyaniwuraoasis.com/ Follow They Lied About Africa on Social Media: Instagram: @theyliedaboutafricaTikTok: @theyliedaboutafrica

What if building a business in Africa isn’t harder than building in the West, but in some cases, actually easier? In this episode of They Lied About Africa, I sit down with Ethiopian-Dutch entrepreneur and investor Kanessa Muluneh to talk about her journey from building businesses in Europe to identifying opportunities and investing across African markets. We get into what makes Africa attractive for entrepreneurs, why Western business knowledge can’t simply be copied and pasted onto African markets, what the diaspora can get wrong when returning to the continent, navigating gender and perceptions of authority in business, Pan-Africanism, corruption, risk, and what Kanessa believes the next generation of African entrepreneurs should understand before they start building. And we definitely don’t agree on everything, which is exactly why this conversation was worth having. CONNECT WITH KANESSAInstagram: @kanessamulunehTikTok: @kanessamuluneh FOLLOW THEY LIED ABOUT AFRICAInstagram: @theyliedaboutafricaTikTok: @theyliedaboutafrica Follow/Subscribe for more conversations about Africa, the diaspora, entrepreneurship, identity, and what it actually looks like to build on the continent.

Aalia Reeves moved from Texas to Senegal knowing almost nothing about the country and with no family roots or established connections of her own there beyond her husband and his family. She reveals what it actually took to build a life in Dakar, why Senegal was more expensive than she expected, the realities foreigners often miss, and why she eventually left for Texas—only to return. Aalia Reeves is an American content creator and model based in Dakar, Senegal. After converting to Islam and marrying a Senegalese man, she moved to Senegal and began navigating life there from scratch. She explains: ■ Why she moved to Senegal with no previous connection to the country■ Why Senegal isn't as “cheap” as many foreigners assume■ What Americans misunderstand about moving to Africa■ The realities of finding work and building a life in Dakar■ Why integration completely changed how she experienced Senegal■ Why she returned to Texas—and what made her go back to Senegal Follow Aalia Reeves:Instagram: @aaliaa_reevesTikTok: @aaliareeves Follow They Lied About Africa: Instagram: @theyliedaboutafrica TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theyliedaboutafrica

Aminata “Ami” Mbaye had a path that looked familiar to many young people in the diaspora: build a life in the United States, find a stable career, and keep moving forward. But after returning to Senegal, she began questioning what success and freedom actually looked like for her—and whether the future she wanted could include building something back home. In this episode of They Lied About Africa, I sit down with Ami, Founder & CEO of PYNK, a women’s wellness brand being built between New York and Senegal.We talk about what changed when she returned to Senegal after years away, the realities she encountered once she was on the ground, and how those experiences eventually pushed her toward entrepreneurship. Ami shares how struggling to find menstrual products that met her needs helped inspire PYNK, why she believes women’s wellness deserves greater attention and investment, and how her vision for the brand extends beyond menstrual health. But we also get into the part of entrepreneurship that often gets left out of the conversation: how do you actually build back home when your life is still in the diaspora? Ami is working a full-time job in New York while building PYNK in Senegal, traveling back and forth and creating a supply chain that doesn’t require her to be physically present every day. We talk about how she manages it, the assumptions the diaspora can have about doing business in Africa, and what she has learned from actually trying to build.If you’ve ever thought about returning, investing, starting a business, or contributing to the continent while still living abroad, this conversation is for you. Learn more about PYNK: Website: https://pynk.sn/ Follow PYNK: Instagram: pynk.sn TikTok: pynk.sn Follow Ami: Instagram: amimeetsworld TikTok: amimeetsworld Follow They Lied About Africa: Instagram: theyliedaboutafrica TikTok: theyliedaboutafrica

At just 20 years old, Imran Bakaluba is building the kind of company many Africans in the diaspora have been waiting for. Growing up in the UK before moving to Uganda, Imran founded HomeLink Uganda to solve one of the biggest challenges facing Africans abroad: how do you safely build, invest, and manage property back home when you're thousands of miles away? In this episode, we discuss what it takes to build a business in Africa as a young entrepreneur, why trust has become one of the biggest barriers to diaspora investment, the realities of returning to build, and how Gen Z can play a role in shaping Africa's future. If today's conversation inspired you and you're based in London, Imran and the HomeLink Uganda team are currently building a community of young East African entrepreneurs who want to connect, collaborate, and build together. If you'd like to get involved, you can reach him at [email protected]. If you're looking for trusted support managing property in Uganda or would like to learn more about HomeLink Uganda's services, visit https://homelinkuganda.com. Follow HomeLink Uganda:📸 Instagram: @homelink_uganda Follow Imran:🎵 TikTok: @imranbakaluba — Follow They Lied About Africa for behind-the-scenes content, additional research, clips from every episode, and updates on everything we're building. 🎵 TikTok: @theyliedaboutafrica📸 Instagram: @theyliedaboutafrica If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to and share it with someone who dreams of building, investing, or creating opportunities in Africa.

European football is filled with some of the best players in the world—but have you ever stopped to ask why so many of them have African roots, or why Europe's biggest clubs invest so heavily in scouting talent across the continent? In this episode of They Lied About Africa, we explore the history, economics, and global systems that helped shape today's football landscape. From colonial history and migration to youth academies and talent pipelines, we look beyond the game itself to understand how African talent has become such an important part of European football. Whether you're a lifelong football fan or just curious about the bigger story behind the game, this episode will change the way you think about European football.

What if I told you that African countries once boycotted the FIFA World Cup—and that this protest is part of the reason African teams are able to qualify for and compete in the tournament today? Most people know who won the 1966 World Cup. Far fewer know that almost an entire continent refused to participate. In this episode, we explore one of the most important yet overlooked moments in African sporting history: why African countries boycotted the 1966 FIFA World Cup, how FIFA's qualification system treated Africa differently from Europe and South America, and how a united protest changed the future of African football. This wasn't just a story about football. It was a story about representation, collective action, and a generation of newly independent African nations refusing to accept unequal treatment on the world stage. If you're watching the 2026 FIFA World Cup, this is one piece of history you shouldn't miss.

Sub-Saharan Africa loses $95 billion every single year because women are systematically excluded from owning land, accessing financing, and being compensated for their labor. In this episode, I will walk you through the three specific mechanisms that make this happen, take you inside Nigeria's inheritance laws , where the Supreme Court ruled women have the right to inherit and it still doesn't happen, and then show you what Rwanda did when it actually changed its laws and what that did to their economy. It's 2026. Africa cannot afford to keep leaving $95 billion on the table every single year. The continent's most powerful economic asset has always been its women, and it's time we start treating it that way. If you're wondering how patriarchy took root in Africa in the first place, meaning where it came from, how it was installed, and why it stuck, check out the previous episode: Patriarchy Is The Most Successful Import In African History. The two episodes together tell the full story.

Before colonialism, Yoruba women controlled entire regional economies. Ashanti Queen Mothers had veto power over who became king. Igbo women fought a war against the British in 1929 to protect their economic independence. So how did African women go from that to being raised from birth to cook and clean for a husband they have never met. This episode traces exactly what happened and who is responsible.

One plot of land. Five different buyers. Five families who each believed it was theirs. This is not a horror story — this is what is actively happening to diaspora investors trying to build back home in Senegal right now. In this episode I sat down with Paya, founder of Paya Residence in Almadies, to get the full picture — what documents you need, where to verify ownership, which neighborhoods are actually worth investing in, and exactly how people lose everything before a single brick is laid. If you have ever said "one day I want to build back home" — this episode is your starting point.

In this episode, I sit down with Senegalese stylist and textile exploration artist Marième Mboup to unpack a question that feels simple, but isn’t: is modesty really a choice? Raised in Dakar, where modest dressing is lived, embodied, and culturally rooted, Marième brings a perspective that challenges how global fashion has reframed modesty as a trend, an aesthetic, and a market category. Together, we explore what gets lost when identity becomes content, who benefits from the commercialization of modest fashion, and how African Muslim women are reclaiming authorship in an industry that has long borrowed from them without credit. This is not just a conversation about fashion — it’s about power, narrative control, and redefining what freedom and creativity actually look like.

Apartheid is often taught as a uniquely South African system, but the ideas that shaped it didn’t appear out of nowhere. In this episode of They Lied About Africa, we explore how apartheid was built from systems that already existed across the world, including American Jim Crow segregation, colonial governance structures, and racial classification laws. By looking at the global influences behind apartheid, we uncover how governments study, borrow, and adapt systems of power and control. This episode challenges the narrative that apartheid was simply an African problem and instead places it within a broader history of racial governance. Tune in to rethink what you thought you knew about apartheid and the global systems that helped shape it.

The aid industry didn't just respond to poverty in Africa. It built a system around it. In this episode, we break down how foreign aid became an industry, how that industry shaped the global narrative around an entire continent, and what that framing has cost Africa in capital, sovereignty, and power. This isn't about whether aid helps. It's about what gets built when crisis becomes the dominant story. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok @theyliedaboutafrica for more.

African countries are called “independent” — but independence isn’t just political.In this episode, we break down who really controls African money, why currency matters for development, and how systems created during colonial rule still shape African economies today.Using the CFA franc as a case study, this video essay explains:- What it means to control a currency- Why “stability” is often framed as help- and how economic power outlasts formal independenceThis isn’t conspiracy.It’s structure.If you’ve ever wondered why independence hasn’t meant economic freedom, this episode explains what most conversations leave out.Follow They Lied About Africa on Socials for more:Instagram: @theyliedaboutafricaTikTok: @theyliedaboutafrica

Many people assume Islam is an Arab religion, that Africa encountered it late, borrowed it, or reshaped it incorrectly. In this episode of They Lied About Africa, we challenge that assumption by tracing how Islam actually came to the African continent and why Africa was never on the margins of its history. From the first Hijra to the Kingdom of Axum, to the growth of Islamic scholarship, institutions, and societies across Africa, this episode explores how African Muslims helped protect, shape, and spread Islam from its earliest days. We also confront the uncomfortable realities of power, Arabization, slavery, and colonialism, and how these forces distorted how African Islam is understood today. If you've ever wondered why African Muslims are treated like outsiders in their own faith, this episode provides the historical context behind that question. This is not a simplified or romanticized story - it's the one most people were never taught. Follow They Lied About Africa on Socials for more: Instagram: @theyliedaboutafrica TikTok: @theyliedaboutafrica