Two African American actors have been cast as the leads in the film based on Alexander McCall Smith’s No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, the first of a highly lucrative series of mysteries set in Botswana.

I have ranted about this book previously — why is a Scottish medical professor a top selling "African" novelist? Why is a white guy getting noticed by the Booker  Prize for assuming the persona of his so-called "lady detective" Mma Precious Ramotswe?

The Botswana government is aglow over the whole thing with the LA Times quoting their  tourism minister as saying, " ‘Africa for the first time will be shown in its true warmth and welcoming spirit.’ "  I can see it now, if the film is a hit, soon after will come the busloads of middle aged white women traipsing around Gaborone looking for salt-of-the-earth African women to have their photos taken with.  Quick erect some grass huts, bring in some lions!

A number of bloggers have posted about the recent TED Africa conference whose speakers included a range of highly successful, intelligent African women.  Yeah well, forget them. With Oscar-winning Brit Anthony Minghella set to direct "No 1 Ladies," this film will supply not only the movie’s audience but millions of others who merely view the commercials with the dominant image of African women circa 2007: a  folksy throwback to the colonial era. Just in time for Christmas.