Accra, Ghana//-The inaugural Communicating Africa Summit organised by Africans Communicating Africa, a Pan-African foundation committed to strengthening authentic African storytelling and nurturing a new generation of African communicators today, attracted seasoned professionals.
The professionals who were from academia, corporate communications, diplomacy, governance, the creative arts, and the media were asked to shape and influence narratives across sustainability and climate communication, political communication, and corporate communication, among others.
Owning the African Narrative
Communications Professor at the University of Ghana, Audrey Gadzekpo, described the summit as a “historic chance to reshape how the world sees Africa and to reposition the continent in global communication networks”.
According to her, Africa has often been represented through negative Western narratives which are shaped by colonial literature, global media coverage, and long-standing stereotypes that consistently focus narrowly on poverty, conflict, and instability.
Prof Gadzekpo, who delivered the keynote address on the topic: ‘Owning the African Narrative’, lamented that the dominance of a “single story” about Africa distorts the continent’s reality, erases its diversity and complexity, and reinforces global power imbalances that affect how Africa is seen and engaged.
Such narratives, she noted, carry both psychological and economic consequences, influencing self-perception within African societies while shaping investment flows, policy decisions, and international engagement.
Prof Gadzekpo warned that new technologies on global communication systems, particularly artificial intelligence (AI) could unintentionally reinforce the existing biases if African perspectives, datasets, and governance structures are not properly integrated into their creation and use.
The future of African storytelling must therefore include not only media reform but also active participation in shaping the digital and technological systems that increasingly define global narratives, she demanded.
Rev. Dr Joyce Aryee, Executive Director of Salt and Light Ministries, who chaired the summit, said the maiden Communicating Africa Summit is the start of a continent-wide movement to reclaim Africa’s narrative in the global conversations.
She maintained that Africa’s story should be told by Africans, noting that persistent negative portrayals have shaped global views, impacted investment choices, and even influenced how Africans see their own identity and potential.
Rev. Dr. Aryee urged African communicators, policymakers, and development actors to actively present a more balanced and genuine portrayal of the continent, showcasing both its challenges and its strengths.
Efforts to reclaim Africa’s narrative, according to her, should go beyond branding and should rather be focused on a strategic issue tied to dignity, economic opportunity, investments, and the continent’s positioning in global affairs.
Africa must speak
In his welcome address, Togbe Kwasinyi Kakaklolo Agyeman V, Dufia of Adidome and Head chief of the Toh/Tovie Clan of Mafi, justified why the foundation is very critical for Africa and its citizens at this time.
“This is what Africans Communicating Africa is for. It is a fellowship of African communicators who understand that our work is serious.
It gathers the people who shape language, image, memory and public meaning across the continent, and it gives them one room, one fire, one purpose. It is not a platform”.
Togbe Kwasinyi Kakaklolo Agyeman V, who is also a communications professional, told participants at the summit that the work ahead of them is too huge and therefore needs patience to execute.
In his own words: “It is the careful editing of Africa’s story across a thousand newsrooms, a hundred ministries, ten thousand classrooms and a million phones. It is choosing the right word when the lazy word would have travelled faster”.
It is teaching the next generation that a hashtag is not yet an argument, an argument is not yet a movement, and only memory becomes power, he added.
“But to speak well, we must first listen well. Listen to the elder in the room and the teenager on the timeline. Listen to the country next door whose story we have never bothered to learn. The communicator who cannot listen is only a louder echo. We did not come this far to echo. We came to originate”.
How it all began
Conversation Lead and Communications for Development Advocate, Madam Georgina Asare Fiagbenu, explained that the summit was born out of a shared vision to strengthen how Africans tell their stories.
The summit, she added, aimed at building a connected community of communicators across the continent.
“The summit was also designed to challenge stereotypes about Africa, including perceptions around professionalism and organisation, by demonstrating excellence in execution”.
To this end, Madam Fiagbenu urged communication professionals to move beyond routine messaging and take on a greater responsibility to inspire, educate, and shape narratives that reflect Africa’s true identity.
Communication is no longer limited to traditional media or public relations, as digital platforms have empowered individuals across Africa to influence global narratives, she noted.
She used the occasion to remind the participants to sustain collaboration among communicators across Africa through continuous engagement, knowledge sharing, and cross-border learning, among others.
For International Communications Strategist, Nii Commey, while reflecting on the shared academic and professional journeys that have shaped the field of communication across the continent, emphasised the deep professional and personal connections among participants.
He called for active engagement on digital platforms and continuous knowledge sharing, whose ultimate goal is to enhance coordinated storytelling that redefines Africa’s global image.
Reconnect with cultural identity
Ghanaian musician and activist Okyeame Kwame appealed to Africans to reconnect with their cultural identity and encouraged to shun narratives that undermine African traditions and self-perception.
Africa’s development discourse, he noted, should begin with pride in its own identity, values, and systems, rather than comparisons that place the continent in a bad light.
