Introduction

If you want to dart through the traffic in comfort and safety in a Sub-Saharan African City hail a Motor-Rickshaw. Perhaps you'll want to order a bespoke suit or dress from Ali the Tailor's "Passion 4 Fashion" or pick up some building supplies from Lovemore's "Best Blocks". These small independent businesses have it all under one corrugated iron roof.

I am in the process of creating a Lego Sub-Saharan African City theme aimed at expanding the Lego Universe beyond the confines of developed countries to include developing countries. The motivation for this is twofold: to the children living in the West I hope to promote a better understanding of the world through exposure to lifestyles and cultures beyond their usual frame of reference, and by doing so challenge misconceptions, and; to the children living in or connected to Sub-Saharan Africa I hope my sets offer some familiar places and faces to their own Lego play.

I appreciate that currently Lego's policy is to use only yellow minifigures to represent a universal skin type but in the light of shifting popular attitudes and other Lego themes, such as Star Wars, Friends, Pirates of the Caribbean, Basketball and others, it is my dearest hope that this policy could be updated.