The United Kingdom Research and Innovation fund's Accelerate project is working with adolescent groups in Africa to understand how young people see their lives in terms of story.
We've found that the stories young people on the continent encounter - in films, web content and even young adult literature - tend to be about others, from elsewhere.
Clearly, the young people felt motivated by different kinds of story, not only a particular set of stories, such as about national heroes, but an accessible spectrum of stories ranging from Cinderella tales through to self-help narratives.
However, economic, social and other factors condition the way people access storytelling platforms such as theatre, spoken word events and reading groups.
If individuals are empowered by hearing stories that speak to their own conditions, then there is an excellent case for policy-makers and researchers on Africa to intervene to make more stories and more storytelling facilities available to more young African people.
