I just attended the 13th international Energy Film Festival in Lausanne, Switzerland. One of the multimedia pieces I produced for the African Development Bank was selected for the festival, and it won the prize for Best Corporate Film. The film, titled “Les nuits ne sont plus sombres” (“Nights are no longer dark”), is a video montage of approximately 150 still photographs and captured audio. It is the story of a village in Benin where the lives of its inhabitants were radically transformed as a result of a rural electrification project. It documents how access to affordable energy can lift people out of poverty and shows how infrastructure investments can improve the quality of life in a remote community. (French language version, subtitled in English).

About the prize: It was humbling to receive it in the company of so many talented film-makers, but a great opportunity to share this small story about a big issue, namely Africa’s energy deficit and the work supported by the AfDB.

With the World Cup in soccer playing out in South Africa, I was reflecting on how we see Africa through photographs. This shot (top right) was taken last year in Monrovia, Liberia during an assignment for the African Development Bank. It shows a downtown street scene, photographed through a storefront window pierced by bullets sometime during the brutal civil war →