The inaugural conference of the African Media Leaders’ Summit in Nairobi was a special occasion to discover a whole argument of well-placed African pride on the part of the President of the African Development Bank (ADB), Nigeria’s Akinwumi Adesina. In a Kenya plagued by monstrous floods, he took care to express the empathy of the entire African community to the host nation, highlighting the devastation wrought by the rains at the same time in Tanzania and Rwanda. Climate change, the effects of which Africa is relentlessly suffering, though not the cause, is an opportunity for this son of the continent to testify to his organization’s unfailing support for sustainable reconstruction.

“My job is to market Africa’s opportunities”, stresses Adesina, giving a clear indication of his vision as the continent’s leading executive who must support 54 states in their development strategies. This no-holds-barred approach is essential for a continent that is constantly being heckled, and for which opinion leaders are always retreating in the concert of nations to make themselves heard. In certain positions, you have to have the courage to take responsibility and look people in the eye. You can’t have 11 of the 20 fastest-growing economies in the world on the African continent, when most of the media discourse and treatment is based on clichés, prejudices and biased reporting on subjects from another age.

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It has to be said that information on Africa, from both inside and outside, is a compendium of prejudices and outdated stereotypes. This would not be a problem if it were the prerogative of press groups in other regions and the work of their correspondents in search of exotic subjects or operating with their editorial prisms. The tragedy, unfortunately, is that this posture is even adopted by African media that make these stereotypes visible.

Dr. Adesina made a point of reminding and inviting African publishers and media executives to sell positive information about our continent. He was cautious enough to point out that he had no intention of influencing media coverage of Africa. However, in his opinion, there are still many good things to be said about Africa. “I’m not asking you to write stories that aren’t factual”, the President of the ADB defended himself, while inviting African media leaders to place particular emphasis on transparency and accountability, guarantees of democracy and stability throughout Africa.

It’s time for a paradigm shift, and this will be achieved first and foremost by avoiding skinning the continent. For the President of the ADB, it’s killing all the hopes of Africa’s youth. He gives an obvious example of the coverage of migration issues, pointing out that it is often forgotten that the bulk of population movements are internal, from one region of the continent to another.

From his position at the head of the ADB, Dr Adesina says he measures the use of information to the highest degree. His organization enjoys an enviable triple-A rating. When you consider how ratings and risk assessment used to work for certain organizations, and how much they took into account the information conveyed about countries in terms of transparency, good governance and respect for democratic standards, you realize that, in this era of information battles, a development organization serving Africans is well aware of the importance of mastering the discourse on Africa. Taking the initiative on discourse in this new ecosystem, where audiences no longer critically question the content they receive, is fundamental if Africa is not to be portrayed at a disadvantage.

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Good, positive information about Africa is obstructed, under-reported and disqualified. Dr Adesina courageously called on African media leaders to dare to set up a major media with the resources to talk about a positive Africa. The ADB, the Africa ExIm Bank and the various regional structures are committed to financing an audible and credible voice for Africa. We can only cross our fingers and wholeheartedly support this initiative. When you’re addicted to Africa, you don’t want it to leave you until you’re dead.

The comments made by the President of the ADB about Senegal, after the trying and challenging episode of the last presidential election, have reassured me that he is an audacious leader without complex.

Adesina’s love note to Senegal
In his argument about the biased media treatment of Africa, Dr. Adesina commented on the unease and stress that have gnawed inside him. This is because Senegal is a country he loves deeply and has a special history. “I love Senegal, and you all know it,” proclaimed Adesina, who confided that he visited the Senegalese capital and the island of Gorée in 2015, at the very start of tenure at the ADB, to soak up the challenge that awaited him.

The case of Senegal is quite symbolic for the continent’s chief banker, as he said he was destabilized by all the information published about Senegal, as it’s a country he knows well. Everything was done to caricature the country. And from his personal experience, coupled with his close relationship with the Senegalese authorities, he could not allow such ideas to flourish.

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He incessantly called President Macky Sall and election observers to enquire about the situation and, above all, to reassure himself that nothing untoward would happen in the democratic bastion that is our country. The President of the ADB could not contain his expectations when he arrived in Dakar the day after the election. He confided to President Macky Sall that, from the airport to the Palace of the Republic, he would never have thought that an election had just taken place. At 6 p.m., the polling stations were closed; at 8 p.m., the first trends were given. “They’re great in Senegal,” exclaimed Dr Adesina, stressing that it’s this kind of positive African story that needs to be presented to the world.

Referring to former President Macky Sall, the President of the ADB says that he is one hell of a hard worker, with whom, in three and a half years, he has completed mega-projects such as the Regional Express Train (Ter), the city of Diamniadio, Promovilles and the opening up of Casamance. He claims not to be denying his friendships, and not to be forgetting those who are doing great work. With President Diomaye Faye, he will continue to be a friend of Senegal. He believes that if a young President fails, it will be the failure of everyone on this continent. In a speech of the highest quality, Dr. Adesina sowed the seeds of pride in an African spirit.
By Serigne Saliou DIAGNE – saliou.diagne@lequotidien.sn