Award-winning Nigerian writer, Chimamanda Adichie was featured in Pope Francis’s new book, ‘Hands Off Africa’.
The Vatican Publishing House announced the release of the book, which condemns the continuing exploitation of Africa by Western powers, on Monday.
Adichie wrote the preface of the book.
“Hands Off Africa” is a compilation of Pope Francis’s speeches during his visits to the conflict-ridden regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan in January/February 2023.
The book also incorporates the voices and stories of the individuals the Holy Father met during his six-day visit to the African continent.
In her preface, Adichie hailed Pope Francis for speaking against the global exploitation of Africa and its resources. She describes the Pope’s message as “potent” and a “necessary rebuke” to wealthy nations.
She wrote: “His message is not merely that Congo — and, by extension, Africa — matters, but that it matters for one reason only. Not for its resources, which the global North depends on, not for fear that the continent could become again the scene of Western proxy battles as happened during the Cold War, but simply because of the people. Africa matters because Africans matter.”
