Communicators urged to shift Africa's narrative to one of hope

• Published date: 23 May 2022
• Publication title: South African Official News

Communicators around Africa have an important duty to take forward the message of a continent of hope, promise and vast potential.

This is according to Government Communication and Information System (GCIS), Director-General Phumla Williams, who opened the Africa Communications Week 2022 on Monday.

Africa Communications Week is a week-long series of events in 20 countries across Africa. It kicked off today under the theme: 'Ahead of the Curve: What's Next for Comms in Africa?'.

Addressing fellow communicators across the continent, Williams said in preaching the message of hope they can ensure that Africa regains its rightful place in the world.

'It begins by us working together as communication professionals to change the narrative of our continent. The coverage of disasters, famine, terrorism and corruption alone has created a distorted view of Africa.

'It has created the impression for many that the continent lurches from one crisis to another and this has a huge impact on the development of the continent and its people,' Williams said.

She emphasised that the role of communicators is to find ways to shift Africa's narrative to one of hope.

The Director-General added that there are exciting developments on the continent that need to be communicated to citizens and the world.

'More people need to know that Africa is working hard to improve its capabilities in vaccine and medical supplies manufacturing.

'Earlier this year, we saw NantAfrica, a division of global entrepreneur Dr Patrick Soon-Shiong's Nantworks, launch state-of-the-art medical infrastructure to accelerate domestic production of pharmaceuticals, biologics and vaccines that will reach users across the African continent,' she said.

It is the largest genomics facility on the African continent and an important milestone in the development of advanced healthcare on the continent. 'It places Africa at the forefront of genome research and bolsters the continent's epidemic and pandemic public health response,' she said.

The Director-General urged communicators to shift their emphasis towards more proactive communication on African issues.

She said this will result in claiming the communications space on key issues facing the continent and is an opportunity to re-frame how Africa moves forward in a post-COVID-19 environment.

'We have seen that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, African nations maintained their spending on infrastructure projects and it is these stories that we need to actively share. According to the...