By: Jeremiah Nutsugah
Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has called on journalists across Africa to shift the narrative about the continent globally.
He urged them to emphasise the success, progress, resilience, and excellence stories of Africa, which will challenge the prevailing global narrative depicting Africans as failures, corrupt, and impoverished.
The MP for Ofoase Ayirebi Constituency said this when he inaugurated the local organising committee of the 3rd African Media Convention in Accra.
The convention provides a platform for Africa’s media elite to collaborate on telling and shaping a positive narrative about Africa while showcasing Africa’s stories of success and resilience to the world. They will also consider various programmes and activities that will further strengthen the media ecosystem in Ghana and Africa as a whole.
Speaking at the event, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah stated, “the story told on the global scene is usually a story of failure, corruption, and poverty, especially as told by journalists.While it may be true, there is also a lot of room to tell the story of African success, progress, resilience, and excellence, and so we are highly hoping this convention will be an opportunity where African media mind scholars will be thinking of how to promote a positive African narrative globally.”
Oppong Nkrumah stressed the need to combat the rise of misinformation on social media platforms in Africa, especially considering threats to democracy and the use of disinformation to undermine democratic processes. He highlighted the convention as an opportunity for African media scholars to strategize on promoting a positive global narrative about Africa.
Emphasising collaboration, he urged stakeholders, including state bodies like the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre and Ghana Tourism Association, to leverage the convention to enhance opportunities for Ghana.
He stated, “If the Ghana Investment Promotion Center, Ghana Tourism Association take advantage of this platform and promote Ghana well, the African media can share the story across other parts of Africa or the world.”
Mr. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah urged stakeholders to work together closely to devise and implement effective solutions, acknowledging that a lack of collaboration had hindered the industry’s progress for many years.
He extended congratulations to the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) and its allied bodies for successfully winning the bid to host the 3rd African Media Convention.