The Role of Communicators in Africa's Development

Africa's Narrative Paradox

Africa’s economic pulse has undoubtedly been the new consensus in the 21st century, infusing the continent with a new commercial vibrancy. This has been illustrated in a growing strand of influential development literature and international journals demonstrating newfound optimism about Africa’s development trajectory. For instance, The Economist’s Mea Culpa (correcting its previous assessment of a "hopeless continent") and TIME magazine’s, "Africa rising." There lies the paradox that is Africa: it’s in its narrative!

The African Economic Outlook indicates that the continent is performing well in regard to economic, social and governance issues and has encouraging prospects for the near future. The world’s most powerful nations are taking advantage of these future prospects to realign their policies towards Africa. Yet, the persisting stereotypical image of Africa depicts divorce from quality and inclusive sustainable economic development. In most cases, there is an over-generalisation of the continent by those who argue ubiquitously that the idea of Africa rising is premature or unrealistic. To this end, communicators have a significant role in shaping and changing the African narrative.

Where Communicators Fit

With this in mind, to know where we are going in terms of how communications can contribute to Africa’s development, it is key to know where we are. Contemporary African communication encapsulates traditional methods, the modern mass media, and the new social media, all of which have important roles in the purposive uses of communication in Africa’s development. Using communication to achieve development requires astute strategies that are best realised through strategic planning, careful implementation and systematic evaluation, which are the hallmarks of strategic communications.

More professionalism of strategic communication in Africa will lead to better use of traditional and new forms of communication to achieve desirable pre-planned outcomes that will contribute significantly to Africa’s political and economic development. The good news is, most African governments are now restructuring their economies and this will drive the need to communicate strategically, with more precision. A great opportunity for communicators!

Therefore, to change the ‘Africa reeling’ narrative, and ensure communications contributes to Africa’s development, communicators have to drive the agenda of Africa’s top priorities as highlighted by the Brookings Institution report dubbed, ‘Foresight Africa’. These priorities include: Mobilising financial resources domestically, increasing employment opportunities, boosting transformational technology, bolstering urbanisation efforts, confronting climate change and upholding good governance. I argue that, communicators have a key role to play in Africa’s development by advocating for the mentioned priorities. In particular, they should advocate for structural economic transformation and the ‘Golden Thread’ of stable and good governance: lack of corruption, human rights, respect for the rule of law, transparency, inclusive political processes, accountability and transformational leadership. With this background, below are various ways that communicators can contribute to Africa’s development.