Although it's difficult to think of African destinations that might support direct flights from MAN, it is an area of growing importance, and what we need first are better one stop connections to major African cities.
The main options at present are AF/KL, TK, QR and EK. For the latter three the journey involves a huge dog leg, especially to West Africa. This is why it was such a disappointment that Egyptair didn't survive long, as they appear on screens in many African capital cities.
The other airline quietly building up a hub and spoke to many African cities is RAM, and I wonder if they might consider a MAN link at some point.
Another option, if IAG could ever look south instead of west, would be to build up connections through Madrid.
Certainly getting to Africa at present is not at all convenient.