Empowered Media Critical to Achievement of Africa’s Development Goals

"

Participants at the NEPAD 10 Anniversary Colloquium and Congress

NEPAD@10 - Leaders Call for Media Participation in Analyzing and Disseminating the True Picture of Africa’s Progress

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 28 March 2012-After a decade of transformative economic, research and development efforts, Africa is poised to achieve its vision for progress - if policymakers, researchers, civil society and the media are able to properly analyze and communicate the continent’s ongoing development challenges and successes. 

That’s a key message of this week’s New Partnerships for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) 10th Anniversary Colloquium and Congress at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa. Past and current African leaders, including NEPAD founders and past Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, led a day-long exploration of NEPAD’s impact on African development.

Historically, African development issues largely have been interpreted by western media, which focus on poverty, conflict and health crises. During the Colloquium, NEPAD leaders lauded impressive development milestones in areas such as agriculture, technology, health and policy. Many were the result of pioneering initiatives launched by NEPAD.

Zenawi, who also chairs the NEPAD Head of State and Government Orientation Committee (HSGOC), highlighted what he called a “new era of renewed momentum.” Zenawi noted that key partnerships established with the G8, G20 and South-South cooperation platforms have already strengthened African development efforts. And while issues like climate change and the global financial crisis disrupted European currency markets, Africa’s GDP growth rates reached a peak of 6 percent in 2007.

“Growth in Africa is projected at 5 percent in the next decade, but only a double digit growth can make Africa a globally integrated economy,” Zenawi said. “In doing this, we need to move beyond managing poverty. I believe very strongly that NEPAD can act as the stimuli for prosperity on our continent.”

The NEPAD event was preceded by several related meetings of African Finance Ministers and policy makers, who explored their role in fueling the past decade’s development progress. NEPAD CEO, Dr. Ibrahim Mayaki, said Africa’s historic image of donor dependency is also eroding, thanks to a potent mix of demographic factors.

“Given the density of our natural resources, the youth of our population and the extraordinary growth in business and IT sectors, African leaders are being guided towards a leadership agenda,” Mayaki said.

“Less than 60 million Africans now live in countries where donor aid is more important than national investment policy,” Mayaki said. “Increasingly, accountability mechanisms are improving the ability of leaders to make credible efforts to improve the quality of life for their citizens”.

However, despite this significant shift towards socio-economic transformation, NEPAD officials acknowledged that many of Africa’s major successes and ongoing development challenges remain unreported by media. And while issues such as HIV/AIDs, malnutrition, poor infrastructure cannot be ignored, the Colloquium leaders believe that better reporting can fuel a new consciousness about Africa’s development prospects.

They urged African journalists to not only take responsibility for analyzing the continent’s development issues, but also embrace ownership of the development story, which could guide international media towards a more authentic portrayal of the complexity of African development challenges.

For example, few would dispute the pivotal role of agriculture in Africa’s development progress. Agriculture contributes 35 to 40 percent of GDP and employs 65 percent of (Africa’s) labor force. African agriculture is already suffering from extreme climate variability such as more frequent droughts. Crop losses of 10-20 percent are projected due to climate change. Agriculture also contributes to climate change through emission of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane as well as being a major driver of deforestation in many regions. But without access to information and support, many journalists on the continent are either uninformed or cannot accurately convey the urgency of these issues to policy makers and the public. 

Prior to the NEPAD’s 10th Anniversary Colloquium and Congress, CTA partnered with NEPAD to host a one-day sensitization workshop for journalists and communications specialists from 14 countries. The workshop was aimed at discussing ways on how best media can play its role in  accelerating the AU/NEPAD agenda.

Michael Hailu, Director of the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), explained the importance of supporting media and providing journalists with the research and information they need to allow Africa to tell its own story.

“The media is an important channel for information that can educate people and empower them to effect positive change. It can help in sharing success stories from one country to other countries; inform vulnerable communities of impacts of a changing climate and how they can adapt to them, and can promote new approaches that improve yields, inspire action, or even bring about policy change where needed.”

Both organizers and participants agreed there is a dire need for the creation of a formal journalists’ support network, to capitalize on increasing momentum about the role of insightful development coverage in fueling transformative policies.

NEPAD, CTA and their partners believe the time is ripe for fueling African-based analysis of development, at a uniquely critical moment in history.  

With the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) fast approaching, African media must be equipped to analyze whether governments are developing the necessary policies and ordering their fiscal priorities to reach targeted MDGs. They must be prepared to either applaud those countries that have made authentic progress, or carefully explain the failure to reach those goals by other countries.

About NEPAD

The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) is a programme of the African Union (AU) adopted in Lusaka, Zambia in 2001. NEPAD's objective is to enhance Africa's growth, development and participation in the global economy.

In February 2010, the 14th AU Assembly established the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency (NEPAD Agency) as a technical body of the AU to replace the NEPAD Secretariat. The NEPAD Agency is a key outcome of the integration of NEPAD into the AU.

Read more about NEPAD's Principles, Programme of Action, Priorities and desired Outcomes by visiting: www.nepad.org

About CTA

The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) is a joint international institution of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States and the European Union (EU). Its mission is to advance food and nutritional security, increase prosperity and encourage sound natural resource management in ACP countries. It provides access to information and knowledge, facilitates policy dialogue and strengthens the capacity of agricultural and rural development institutions and communities. CTA operates under the framework of the Cotonou Agreement and is funded by the EU.

For more information on CTA visit: www.cta.int