In the first lines of the poem, Africa is portrayed as a complex and pretty ridiculously hot woman – eternal and eternally gorgeous. No, we're not at all jealous. Not at all.
Things take a turn for the worse in Stanza 2: Africa is invaded by brigands that steal men and women. There's lots of killing. And some forced religious conversion. It's all pretty awful.
Stanza 3 is where Africa starts to grab some power for itself. Now the passive woman who suffered throughout the years is "rising," ready and able to take on the world.