BBC - Africa with Ade Adepitan (2019)

Ade Adepitan goes on an epic four-part journey around Africa. Ade Adepitan travels across Africa, from West Africa and city of his birth - Lagos in Nigeria - through Central and Eastern Africa and on to the deep south of the continent. Ade is on a journey to uncover how modern Africa is changing. He will visit a vast array of contrasting places on the continent, each providing unique and surprising experiences, from the windswept beauty of Cape Verde to the streets of Mogadishu.

Episode 1
Ade Adepitan embarks on the first leg of his epic four-part journey around Africa. Starting in west Africa, this episode sees Ade traveling from Cape Verde to Senegal and the Ivory Coast, before finishing in Nigeria - the country of his birth.

In Cape Verde - a group of tiny volcanic islands in the Atlantic - Ade visits a community living in the shadow of an active volcano. He also witnesses how solar power is transforming lives by bringing electricity to isolated communities.

Ade's next stop is Senegal. Here he visits Goree Island - a former staging post in the transatlantic slave trade. He then travels down the coast to a fishing village, where he hears that much of Senegal’s catch is being taken by foreign companies and turned into fishmeal to feed western livestock. Making a last stop on his journey through Senegal, Ade visits Lake Retba where he joins the workers who wade through the lake gathering salt which they sell for less than half a penny a kilogram. Ade’s host has tried to escape poverty by migrating to Europe, but - like so many others - he never got further than the horrors of the camps in Libya.

Episode 2
The second leg of Ade Adepitan’s four-part journey around Africa, a continent undergoing huge change. This leg takes him across central Africa, from the coast of Gabon, through the giant Democratic Republic of Congo, and on to Uganda.

He starts off the coast of Gabon looking for humpback whales. It is one of Africa’s best spots for seeing them, thanks to Gabon’s vast marine sanctuaries. The country is an eco-paradise, not just in the water, but on land as well where 80% of it is forested. But the country has recently introduced one of the most destructive agri-businesses in the tropics - palm oil farming. Ade discovers how Gabon hopes to do it sustainably. The country has impressive environmental credentials, but on a tour of its divided capital Ade hears that some people are skeptical. One critic suggests it is a way for the country’s autocratic ruler Ali Bongo Ondimba to curry favour with the international community.

Episode 3
The third leg of Ade Adepitan’s epic four-part journey around Africa, a continent undergoing huge change. This leg takes him to the east of the continent, from Tanzania, through Ethiopia and on to war-torn Somalia.

Ade begins in Tanzania, in Selous Game Reserve – a game park the size of Switzerland. He is on the lookout for elephants. But the numbers in this park have fallen by 90 per cent over the last few decades. As well as poaching, one of the big problems is that elephants trample and eat crops – so the locals don’t like them. But a new collaring programme is helping numbers to recover.

Episode 4
The final leg of Ade Adepitan’s epic tour of Africa sees him travelling from the beaches of Mozambique, through South Africa, before ending his entire trip in Zimbabwe.

He begins on the golden sand beaches of Mozambique’s Bazaruto Archipelago, one of Africa’s highlights. At Paradise Island, he finds an abandoned hotel, a visual reminder of Mozambique’s recent history - this place was once a high-end tourist destination, but 25 years of colonial and then civil war put a stop to development. But the local wildlife has benefited from the fact that so few tourists now come here, and Ade is able to snorkel with one of the world’s most elusive sea creatures - a dugong.