Innovation, improvisation and bright ideas are key resources of success in African societies. Aspiring young women and men use their skills and schooling to forge business and gain recognition in a multitude of ways, often within fields of intertwined politics and culture. Figures of success have to be visible and perform their standing. Performance itself leads to new cultural expressions, merging into aestetics and fine arts that engage with a variety of publics. The panel will present figures of succes in their interaction wiith networks and audiences in western, southern and eastern Africa.
