That does help for sure - I have friends who are from or have been to Kenya, Zambia, Mali, Gambia, South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Somalia and a few others, so perhaps I've got a bit of a head start. If you're starting from scratch, one enjoyable way is to read their Wikipedia articles when they come up in the news, that way you don't just get the sensationalised news stories and can form more rounded associations with the country.