Does the way we see something affect the way we understand it? But will a different map build roads? Will it create jobs? Will it improve healthcare? Will it stop corruption?
It’s the 32nd Youth For Change Club (YFCC) Debate at Bishop Bowers International School. This is one of the school's flagship events, attracting significant national attention.
Each year, the school brings forward thought-provoking and challenging subjects for debate, and this year is no exception.
The audience is seated. The atmosphere is electric. The stage stands ready.
CLP news, Akoma news, Y FM and several other prominent broadcast stations are in attendance, ready to capture every argument, every rebuttal, and every defining moment.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
(Drum rolls, please….)
For the very first time, BBC Africa is also present to capture the debate between these two brilliant students — Darius Harrison and Xavier Winston.
Mrs. Hawthorne walks onto the stage…
“This morning promises to be exciting as we listen to our lovely students debate on the subject:
Africa’s True Size: Does It Really Matter?”
With a resounding round of applause, shall we welcome..... Darius Harrison and Xavier Winston!
Cheers erupt from every corner of the Nelson Mandela Auditorium
The auditorium is filled to capacity. Excitement ripples through the crowd as the two debaters make their way onto the stage.
Darius takes his position behind the lectern on the left, while Xavier takes his place behind the lectern on the right.
Mrs. Hawthorne looks from one debater to the other
“Gentlemen....., the floor is yours,”
DEBATE:
“AFRICA IS BIGGER THAN YOU THINK — BUT DOES ITS TRUE SIZE REALLY MATTER?”
XAVIER — FOR
DARIUS — AGAINST
Xavier:
Ladies and gentlemen, let me start with a question:
Does the way we see something affect the way we understand it?
Audience: Yesss!
Xavier:
Exactly.
For generations, many of us have grown up looking at flat world maps, particularly maps based on the Mercator projection. And here’s the problem: Mercator preserves direction and shape well for navigation, but it dramatically distorts area, especially toward the poles.
Look at Greenland.
On the familiar world map, Greenland can look almost comparable to Africa.
But in reality?
Africa is about 14 times larger than Greenland.
Audience: Wow!
Xavier:
Africa is about 30.4 million square kilometres.
It is so enormous than the United States, China, and India occupy roughly 28 million square kilometers combined, which is less land area than Africa.
So I ask you:
Does that matter?
Darius:
Xavier, Africa doesn’t become bigger because we change the map.
Africa was already 30.4 million square kilometres.
The Mercator projection wasn’t invented to insult Africa. It was created for navigation. So why turn a geographical limitation into something bigger than it is?
Xavier:
Because humans don’t experience the world through numbers alone. We experience it through what we see.
And that’s where perception comes in.
Darius:
But will a different map build roads?
Will it create jobs?
Will it improve healthcare?
Will it stop corruption?
A hush falls over the auditorium. The question hangs in the air.
Xavier pauses. Takes a breath.
Xavier: No.
The silence stretches a moment longer
But the map can influence the mental picture people have before they ever encounter the reality.
And that matters.
Imagine you’re an international company deciding where to expand.
If your mental picture of Africa is a relatively small, distant continent—as the conventional map can visually suggest—you may underestimate its geographical scale, diversity, markets, and potential.
Africa isn’t one small market.
It is a continent of 54 countries, enormous distances, hundreds of languages and cultures, and vastly different economies.
AFRICA is the second largest continent on this planet.
Understanding that scale matters for business, education, policy, and investment.
Audience: Applause.
Darius:
But you’re assuming businesses make investment decisions based on maps.
Xavier:
I’m not saying a CEO looks at a classroom map and says, “Africa looks small, so let’s not invest.”
I’m saying perception influences how people conceptualize opportunity.
And businesses care about perceptions.
If Africa is consistently portrayed as peripheral, small, or insignificant, why shouldn’t we challenge that picture?
Because Africa’s physical scale is not insignificant.
Its opportunities aren’t insignificant either.
Darius:
But isn’t this becoming emotional?
Xavier:
No. It’s about accuracy.
I’m not asking us to make Africa look bigger than it is.
I’m asking us to stop making it look smaller than it is.
Audience cheers
And that is why I advocate for globes in schools, because a globe represents the Earth’s surface without the same global area distortion created when we flatten it.
And where flat maps are necessary, schools should increasingly use equal-area maps, such as the Equal Earth projection, which preserves the relative sizes of land masses. The Equal Earth projection was specifically designed to show areas in their correct relative proportions.
Darius:
But Africa’s problems aren’t caused by maps.
Xavier:
I agree.
And that is not my argument.
A map didn’t cause colonialism.
A map didn’t cause poverty.
A map didn’t create bad governance.
But representation can reinforce perceptions.
And perceptions can influence confidence, expectations, and even how the world evaluates a place.
Darius:
So what exactly are you asking us to do?
Xavier:
Three simple things.
First: Teach students that maps are representations, not reality.
Second: Let students use globes and equal-area maps so they understand the true relative size of continents.
Third: Correct incomplete narratives about Africa.
Because this isn’t merely about geography.
It’s about identity, confidence, and how Africa understands its place in the world.
Darius:
But surely Africans should know their worth regardless of the map.
Xavier:
Absolutely.
But why make that harder by giving them an inaccurate visual picture?
Audience: Applause.
For centuries, Africa’s resources were exploited.
But the struggle over Africa has never been only about what is in the ground.
It has also been about how Africa is perceived.
So when someone asks:
“Who cares how big Africa really is?”
My answer is:
We should care because seeing Africa correctly is part of understanding Africa correctly.
FINAL EXCHANGE
Darius:
So, Xavier, will changing the map save Africa?
Xavier:
No.
Darius:
Will it create development?
Xavier:
Not by itself.
Darius:
Then why does it matter?
Xavier:
Because before you can change a reality, you must first be willing to see it accurately.
Africa doesn’t become great because we draw it bigger.
It was already that big.
What needs to become bigger is our understanding of it.
Audience: Loud applause.
Xavier:
So I leave you with one question:
If the picture we see shapes the world we imagine, shouldn’t we at least make sure the picture is true?
Audience: Cheers and applause.
Mrs. Hawthorne walks in.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, can we do it better for these brilliant young boys?”
The audience erupts in applause.
“And so, the ball is in your court now…”
Does the true size of Africa matter?
Written by fellow Sanima Nawaane
