In My Africa (song)

This article is about the song. You may be looking for the episode.

In My Africa (song)
D.W. and Cheikh dance
Artist	D.W. (Robert Naylor), Cheikh, and Brain (Lyle O'Donohue)
Runtime	Throughout whole episode
Played in	"In My Africa"

"In My Africa" is a song that is performed in the episode of the same name in the key of E major. D.W., Cheikh, a new student from Africa, and Cheihk's cousin Brain, create the song in the episode so that they can more easily remember facts about Africa. D.W. and Cheikh later sing it to their preschool class.

Lyrics

D.W.:

Fifty-four things

Fifty-four

Things to see and to explore

Chorus:

In my Africa

Whoa, whoa, whoa

In my Africa

Whoa, whoa, whoa

Verse 1 (D.W. and Brain):

The continent of Africa is deep and long and wide

With 54 countries to keep my song diversified

There's rhythmic beats, new things to eat, and places you can go

And every day, a different way that you can say hello

For instance, meeng-gah-bou is "howdy-do" when visiting in Ghana

Dumela mma is how you say "Hello" inside Botswana

The Muslims greet the folks they meet with, "Salaam aleikum"

In Gambia, Morocco and Sudan's hometown Khartoum

Chorus:

In my Africa

Whoa, whoa, whoa

In my Africa

See this when you go

II (D.W. and Brain):

Burundi's got the deepest lake and then the highest peak

Juts up from Tanzania just next door to Mozambique

And carving through the continent there flows the mighty Nile

Past Uganda, Eritrea and... look out! A crocodile!

Namibia's wild Skeleton Coast is littered with wrecked ships

And Côte d'lvoire has chocolate fields, I love my chocolate chips

Victoria Falls in Zambia, it makes a mighty sound

Zimbabwe shares the falls as well, there's lots to go around

Chorus:

In my Africa

Whoa, whoa, whoa

In my Africa

Life is all aglow

---

Chorus:

In my Africa

Whoa, whoa, whoa

In my Africa

There's lots of food they grow

Verse 3 (D.W. and Cheikh):

The Comoros has the Coelacanth, a prehistoric fish

In Congo, they eat mwamba stew, that stew's my favorite dish

São Tomé and Príncipe, they like their food with spice

The fish in Mauritius is hot and delicious, it's really very nice

Sahara in Algeria's a hot and arid land

Vacation in the Seychelles and relax upon the sand

The Madagascar aye-aye taps on trees to find its lunch

If you like grains, then you'll love Mauritania—they munch rice a bunch

The farmers out in Kenya, they raise cattle, goats, and hens

And Burkina Faso's called "The Land of Upright Men"

The cotton from Benin is in the clothes we wear to school

There's 40 words for "camel" in Somalia—pretty cool!

Hey!

Verse 4 (D.W., Cheikh and Men):

Bembeya Jazz comes from Guinea

Baobab trees are stout, not skinny

Ethiopians eat teff, not "potator"

Equatorial Guinea's quite near the equator

One street in South Africa: two Peace Prize winners

In Togo, they eat fufu for dinner

Senegal's got a pink lake, Mali's got the Blue Men

The folks in Nigeria spice food with cumin

They do. It makes a tasty stew!

---

Chorus:

In my Africa

Whoa, whoa, whoa

In my Africa

Whoa, whoa, whoa

Verse 5 (D.W. and Cheikh):

The world's biggest frog is found inside of Cameroon

In Chad, the lungfish yawn and wake up when it rains in June

Gorillas in Rwanda have a hooting sort of speech

Go to Gabon to see an elephant walk on the beach

Angola's full of dino bones; museum in the ground

Libya's got those Roman ruins, the coolest ruins around

And Egypt has the pyramids, the Sphinx, and King Tut's tomb

Malawi's got a town called Livingstonia, I presume

Chorus:

In my Africa

Whoa, whoa, whoa

In my Africa

Joy and beauty flow

Verse 6 (D.W. and Cheikh):

Tunisia's known for gorgeous gates and Swaziland makes glass

From old recycled bottles that the boys and girls amass

Lesotho's folks don't go outside without their Mokorotlo fancy hats

The artists in Sierra Leone weave really pretty mats

The tunes they play in Niger, hey! They're vital and alive

The Hipco of Liberia, that style's gonna thrive

Cape Verde's got the morna—Man, I dig that swinging beat

Guinea-Bissau's gumbe just makes me want to stomp my feet

Chorus:

In my Africa

Whoa, whoa, whoa

In my Africa

It's almost time to go

Verse 7 (D.W. and Cheikh):

My Africa's an ageless land, I'm glad that you could see

This continent so full of life, you're all my family

And now we leave this loving place, its heartfelt family ties

A warm embrace, a smiling face, a bittersweet goodbye

Chorus:

To my Africa,

D.W. and Cheikh:

Djibouti,

Chorus:

Ma-uke ged or rae

Goodbye, Africa

D.W. and Cheikh:

Somalia,

Chorus:

Mabad gelyo, hey!

Magic Africa

D.W. and Cheikh:

In the C.A.R. (Abbreviation for Central African Republic)

Gue nzoni, hey!

Chorus:

Lovely Africa,

D.W. and Cheikh:

D.R.C., (Abbreviation for Democratic Republic of the Congo)

Chorus:

Reviens, s'il vous plâit!

Mighty Africa,

D.W. and Cheikh:

Western Sahara,

Chorus:

Ma salaam! Oh, yay!

In my Africa

References

• The name Burkina Faso is a portmanteau of local languages meaning land of upright men.
• "One street, two Peace Prize winners" refers to Vilakazi Street in Soweto, South Africa, which was home to both Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu (they died two years and 10 years, respectively after the episode aired).
• "Livingstonia, I presume" refers to Henry Morton Stanley's greeting to Dr. David Livingstone, for whom the Malawi town of Livingstonia was named.

African-language phrases

• Meeng-gah-bou – Hello; Ga (spoken in Ghana)
• Dumela mma (to woman) / Dumela rra (to man) – Hello; Setswana (spoken in Botswana)
• Salaam aleikum – Peace be with you; Arabic (spoken in various North African countries)
• Nabad gelyo – Goodbye; Somali (spoken in Somalia)
• Gue nzoni – Goodbye; Sango (spoken in the Central African Republic)
• Reviens, s'il vous plâit – Please come back; French (spoken in various African countries)
• Ma salaam – With safety; Arabic (spoken in various North African countries)

Production notes

Some of the countries go by a different name in the song (likely for musical reasons):

• Côte d'Ivoire is also known as "Ivory Coast"
• Republic of the Congo is referred to in the song simply as "Congo"

Since the publication of "In My Africa" in 2011 the political map of Africa has changed somewhat:

• South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011.
• Swaziland was officially named Eswatini (its local name) in 2018.
• Western Sahara’s status as an independent country was and is disputed