Africa's Narrative Matters

As I reflect on the events that made major headlines on Africa this week, I see that we are collectively missing an important point: the Africa Narrative that we push or entertain has far-reaching implications. The global media giants persist in what has always been their editorial inclination on Africa.

This week South Africa and Kenya made the headlines for the organized protests and shutdown. The crisis in Eastern DRC has led to a global debate that is trivialising a genocide of minorities as the world overlooks. Southern Africa is grappling with floods, whilst the horn of Africa is dealing with a prolonged drought. Africa is challenged indeed.

However, beyond this chilling narrative, Africa is home to over 930 Mio Africans under the age of 30. These are young humans who are forming an identity and grappling with the world they live in. Africa is rich in diversity, rich in natural resources, and has beautiful and hard-working people. So why are the headlines on Africa only about what is not working?

This is deeply concerning because perception is something that spreads virally and sometimes deeply within the human race. Someone recently said the human race is a herd: we easily conform to what the mass think without question. ??

In 2021, I observed as a small group of social media influencers began to twist the history and emerging developments in the Eastern DRC. They spun a story of hate, a blame game to Rwanda, and surprisingly it caught the masses like a spreading fire. In a matter of months, young people in the DRC were taking up machetes to hunt down Kinyarwanda-speaking Congolese (particularly those of Tutsi descent).

Yet the history of the Kinyarwanda-speaking people in DRC and Uganda is not unique to the region. Attributed to the European colonials who set borders putting people of same descent in different countries, a similar dynamic is in southern Africa where Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi people share cultures and dialects, in west Africa where Mali and Senegal have families spread across the borders.

Back to my concern about Africa’s narrative. There are many angles one could attempt to address this concern. However, I want to draw attention to how this affects Africa’s young people.

What are we telling them about the continent they are born into and growing in? What are we telling the growing teenagers who are learning to navigate the plethora of information that the internet shares about their nations and continent?

What perception are we digging deeper into? Is Africa is a failed continent? Is there is only despair and injustice?

Africa must stay on track to care for its people and its interests. We need our young people to be confident that they have a chance to build a dignified, safe and prosperous future for themselves and their families. We want to see them innovate and build technology solutions that work for our unique contexts. We want to attract and retain talent and investments.

To get there, we must collectively go against this rain of negative narratives. Who is telling our story, and what are they saying? Are we allowing this negative narrative to shape and define our youth, and our nations?

Earlier this week, I heard an amazing human being and leader say it well: "We must infect the world with HOPE.". Let's deconstruct and reconstruct Africa's narrative to reflect what Africa truly is and can be.