#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

Kenya’s vibe shift

From aesthetic cool to political confusion, a new generation in Kenya is navigating broken promises, borrowed styles, and the blurred lines between irony and ideology.

Africa and the AI race

At summits and in speeches, African leaders promise to harness AI for development. But without investment in power, connectivity, and people, the continent risks replaying old failures in new code.

After the uprising

Years into Cameroon’s Anglophone conflict, the rebellion faces internal fractures, waning support, and military pressure—raising the question of what future, if any, lies ahead for Ambazonian aspirations.

In search of Saadia

Who was Saadia, and why has she been forgotten? A search for one woman’s story opens up bigger questions about race, migration, belonging, and the gaps history leaves behind.

Binti, revisited

More than two decades after its release, Lady Jaydee’s debut album still resonates—offering a window into Tanzanian pop, gender politics, and the sound of a generation coming into its own.

The bones beneath our feet

A powerful new documentary follows Evelyn Wanjugu Kimathi’s personal and political journey to recover her father’s remains—and to reckon with Kenya’s unfinished struggle for land, justice, and historical memory.

What comes after liberation?

In this wide-ranging conversation, the freedom fighter and former Constitutional Court justice Albie Sachs reflects on law, liberation, and the unfinished work of building a just South Africa.

The cost of care

In Africa’s migration economy, women’s labor fuels households abroad while their own needs are sidelined at home. What does freedom look like when care itself becomes a form of exile?