#CaptionThis: What was Madonna pointing at?

For some odd reason, last weekend, this striking black and white image by photographer Terry Kane of pop singer Madonna “tour(ing) a UN millennium village in Mtanga, Malawi, in 2007” illustrated a Financial Times book review of The Tyranny of Experts by William Easterly and The Idealist, by Nina Munk. Madonna is not mentioned in the piece at all which you can read here. In any case, we were struck more by the image and posted it on our Facebook page, where we asked readers to #captionthis. We promised that we’d feature a few of your responses on the blog, so here they are. Feel free to add more in the comments: 

Seán Burke: “You can put my self-importance right over there.”

Joseph Miller: “That’s where I want the two of you to perform Hakuna Matata”

Andriannah Mbandi: “Can i get a piggy back ride across to over theeeere?”

Jane Bennett: “(Medem to gardner) Lapha, lapha and lapha….”

Belinda Dodson: “Oh look! It’s a baby in the bulrushes.”

Ryan Justin Cummings: “Right there is where Lupita Nyongo’s parents bequeathed her to me….”

Katie Ubax Carline: “And there’s the crate with my clothing donation: camo trousers and a pair of combat boots for the whole town!”

Chantelle Hammer: “So Africa is right over there” jaaaa there”

Further Reading

On Safari

On our year-end publishing break, we reflect on how 2024’s contradictions reveal a fractured world grappling with inequality, digital activism, and the blurred lines between action and spectacle.

Rebuilding Algeria’s oceans

Grassroots activists and marine scientists in Algeria are building artificial reefs to restore biodiversity and sustain fishing communities, but scaling up requires more than passion—it needs institutional support and political will.

Ibaaku’s space race

Through Afro-futurist soundscapes blending tradition and innovation, Ibaaku’s new album, ‘Joola Jazz,’ reshapes Dakar’s cultural rhythm and challenges the legacy of Négritude.

An allegiance to abusers

This weekend, Chris Brown will perform two sold-out concerts in South Africa. His relationship to the country reveals the twisted dynamic between a black American artist with a track record of violence and a country happy to receive him.

Shell’s exit scam

Shell’s so-called divestment from Nigeria’s Niger Delta is a calculated move to evade accountability, leaving behind both environmental and economic devastation.

Africa’s sibling rivalry

Nigeria and South Africa have a fraught relationship marked by xenophobia, economic competition, and cultural exchange. The Nigerian Scam are joined by Khanya Mtshali to discuss the dynamics shaping these tensions on the AIAC podcast.

The price of power

Ghana’s election has brought another handover between the country’s two main parties. Yet behind the scenes lies a flawed system where wealth can buy political office.

Beats of defiance

From the streets of Khartoum to exile abroad, Sudanese hip-hop artists have turned music into a powerful tool for protest, resilience, and the preservation of collective memory.