"I think that if Africa has something to sell, it’s not petrol but the joy of life, the joy of living with nothing. I know that we had that, I don’t know if we still have it because today, in Africa, people complain a lot. Before, everyone wanted a mobile phone, now everyone wants three.

Africa is not just bam-bam-bam-bam and acrobatics. No, it’s also violins, people who walk peacefully, people who have something inside their hearts. It’s bam-bam-bam-bam inside, spirituality, people who have a special view of the world, people of emotion, poets who do not know they are poets. Africa isn’t just a history but something new as well, something which is moving towards the future."

I had a pleasurable encounter with Wasis Diop this summer, who told me this as he talked about his ethereal new album. What a poet, intellectual and visionary. I especially like his song and clip Automobile Mobile, which uses shots of 1960s Dakar from his film-maker brother's film to show a Dakar that still exists in small, barely-detectable elements.