Africa: the cartographic truth (and the demographic truth)

Two Africa-based advocacy groups, ‘Africa No Filter’ and ‘Speak Up Africa’, launched a “Change the Map” campaign in April. “When whole generations, in Africa and elsewhere, learn from a distorted map, they develop a biased view of Africa’s role in the world,” said ‘Speak Up’ founder Fara Ndiaye – but hardly anybody outside Africa noticed.

That may be changing, because earlier this month the 55-member African Union endorsed the campaign,