Document - Your Excellency, President Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya
Africa : Keynote Address by Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina, President, Africa n Development Bank Group All Africa Media Leaders' Summit Nairobi, Kenya Good morning, everyone.I wish to congratulate All Africa Media, and its Founder, Makhtar Bah for his dedication and commitment towards Africa . I also commend media and communication leaders across Africa for all you do in telling and shaping the Africa n narrative.
You will rebuild. And you will prosper, despite the challenges of this climate-induced devastation, which you did not cause, but which you and the rest of Africa suffer from disproportionally. We live in dynamic times. Technology continues to evolve rapidly. The rise of the Internet, digital and social media platforms, has shifted the focus of audiences from a reliance on radio, TV, and print publications.
In the quest for market share and the dominance of social media content, truly positive developments in Africa get missing amid the chatter, as unfiltered information is spewed to informed and uninformed audiences alike. We have done an excellent job as a bank in maintaining our AAA rating. In fact, we have been the only AAA rated financial institution on the continent over the past 9 years that I have been President of the Bank. My staff, the board, shareholders, and I, work ceaselessly to ensure our rating remains intact. Only then, can we provide our 54 regional member countries with concessional finance to accelerate development.
This and other positive developments are not the kind of news Africa is known for. The question is, how many news organizations know of or reported this? In most cases, the good news emanating out of Africa tends to be minimized or under-reported, in favor of magnifying challenges. Last week, at the World Economic Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, I had the pleasure of meeting with the founder of a major company in the US which specializes in public image management for countries, and I shared with her the positive developments from the work of the African Development Bank in Africa. She was so impressed and quipped “why has this not been well covered in the western media?”African news, except negative, is not prioritized.
Yet look at the yields on bonds issued by African countries and countries in Latin America: for the same credit rating of similar BB-rated countries in the two regions, the one in Africa pays 1.1% interest rate higher than those in Latin America. As media business models radically shift away from conventional advertisement and subscription driven models, the potential for even more negative and stereotypical biases will increase.
Just one month ago, we witnessed the challenges facing Senegal as it approached its elections. The media was awash with all manners of negative news. Some proclaimed “the bastion of democracy in Africa is falling.” Others blared “democracy is failing in Africa.” I was in Dakar one day after the presidential elections, and was surprised at the level of serenity, with hardly anyone on the streets jubilating or demonstrating. I asked the head of one of the election observer missions about his views on the elections, and he said, “I have monitored elections within and outside of Africa, and I have never seen an election better conducted than this. Yet, this is Africa!.
Second, the lack of financing has been cited by more than 92% of editors and journalists and media houses as a constraint to covering stories in Africa. I would propose that there is a strategic business case for financial institutions to put significant resources together to finance a credible African media institution with a global footprint. Development news must be properly prioritized and disseminated.
Third, the development institutions in Africa should set up a joint repository of verified and standardized stories, videos and content that will make it easier to aggregate and write stories on what’s being achieved in Africa. This will lower the search costs of news houses for stories on what is working in Africa.
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