Laughing in the Dark, Dreaming in the Light:
…an Amb Anthony Mukwita insight for the weekend
23 Aug 25.
They say laughter is the best medicine, unless you’re trying to cure inflation, in which case you’ll need a bit more than a chuckle and a candle during load-shedding.
But here we are, Africa: the continent that invented resilience before the word made it to motivational posters.
From Lusaka’s dusty optimism to Lagos’ traffic-induced enlightenment, we keep moving, sometimes forward, sometimes sideways, but always with style.
Let’s be clear: we’re not celebrating poverty. We’re just refusing to let it steal our punch-lines.
At least I am because while the price of mealie-meal may rise faster than a politician’s promises, our spirit remains stubbornly unbroken, Zambia in particular but also Africa as a whole.
We are the continent that turned ancient kingdoms into empires long before colonialism taught us how to queue for aid.
Great Zimbabwe was a marvel of architecture when Europe was still figuring out indoor plumbing. Timbuktu had libraries while some folks were still drawing stick figures up West.
And now? We sit on minerals so rich they make Wall Street blush, cobalt, copper, lithium, gold. Yet somehow, we export the wealth and import the poverty.
It’s like owning a bakery and starving because you sold all the bread to buy crumbs. But the tide is turning. Slowly. Painfully. Like a ZESCO reconnection. Five hour power day!
In Namibia’s deserts, solar farms bloom. In Kenya’s hills, tech hubs rise. South Africa, battered but unbowed, still dances between despair and defiance. Solar in Chisamba.
And Zambia? Ah, Zambia. We may not have sky-scrapers that touch the clouds, but we have peace that touches the soul. No civil war. No conflict. Just a quiet stubbornness that says, “We’ll get there. Eventually.”
Our youth, oh, the youth! Sixty percent under 25. That’s not a demographic; that’s a revolution waiting to happen. They tweet, they code, they dance, they protest. They are the heartbeat of a continent that refuses to die of old ideas.
Yes, there’s graft. Yes, there’s greed. But there’s also grit. Rwanda digitizes. Botswana stabilizes. Ghana electrifies. Even in the mud, we find diamonds and gold in Mufumbwe—not just in mines, but in minds.
So here I am, Anthony Mukwita aka Tony, laughing in misery, not because it’s funny, but because it’s necessary. Because if we don’t laugh, we cry.
And if we cry too long, we forget how to dream.
Our kids won’t forgive us if we keep selling out their future for per diems and photo ops or fake stats.
Let’s tune our mineral wealth into real wealth. Let’s build, not beg. Let’s unite, not divide. The glass isn’t half empty, it’s refillable.
And Africa? Africa is the bartender with a cheeky grin and a recipe for greatness. It aint over until the fat lady sings so goes the saying.
Amb. AM 22.08.25.