Charles Kumolu

This conversation with two leading African innovators, Annie Mutumba and Eniola Harrison, reveals how they founded a global hub, African Communication Week just from Coffee Shop rants about their respective countries. The Congolese and Nigerian are leading a team of Africans from various countries in their mission of changing current narratives about Africa. Their story is a fact-sheet for the news industry.

Mutamba is a strategic communications consultant and the co-founder of Meridia Partners, the first public affairs firm specialising in EU-Africa relations. She started her career in Washington D.C. at the Africa Policy Information Centre, now Africa Action,  before managing communication and advocacy programmes within the European Chemical Industry Council.

Harrison is a communications consultant, who is passionate about Africa’s transformation through strategic communications. She is the Lead Consultant for IE’s Africa at IE Initiative and an external consultant with the European Commission.

Social change:

If you read the July 7, 2011, issue of Economist Magazine and still disagreed on the link between the Coffee House and social change, this conversation is probably your answer.

In explaining how the internet has returned information business to its conversational days, the report highlighted the roles, played by the Coffee House in shaping social narratives 300 years ago.

Titled: Back to the Coffee House, it recalled that the “Coffee houses particularly were very commodious for a free conversation,”  that had profound effects on society and politics.

Relating the culture to how the news industry has become participatory with borderless influence on social interactions, the report authoritatively declared: “The coffee house is back. Enjoy it.”

Shaping conversations

Indeed, the Coffee House is back with its “noisy, diverse, vociferous, and argumentative” patterns of transformative conversations.

Like centuries ago when some innovations in key sectors like education, commerce and governance originated from Coffee House interactions, the regenerated Coffee House spirit is shaping conversations in diverse ways today.

This is more illustrated by the story of these two African social influencers, whose rants about the reputation of their respective African countries in a coffee shop, birthed a platform to drastically reduce problematic narratives about Africa.

Consequently, like Sir Isaac Newton, who wrote his “Principia Mathematica, which is one of the foundational works of modern science from a Coffee Shop conversation, Mutamba and Harrison founded a global platform, African Communication Week, ACW.

With presence across many countries on the continent, the forum is encouraging the need to be strategic and intentional about the types of stories told about Africa.

If Obasanjo has grouse with Fulanis, let him say so – MURIC

The duo of Mutumba and Harrison are bonded by this desire for proper narratives that could save the continent from continuous loss associated with misconception.

As this chat with them in Lagos reveals, they are expanding the frontiers for counter-narratives within African shores to balance all the misperceptions about the continent. This is their story.

Mutumba: We first met at a conference organised by a major business school in Brussels. The topic was: Opportunities for the Retail Sector in Africa. Since retail is not the first thing that comes to mind when Europeans talk about Africa, we started to chat about how African diasporas’ initiatives, especially within business circles and achievements could influence the narrative about Africa. For communications professionals like us, taking the brand,  Africa to the top business schools was a natural conversation starter.

Passionate rants

Harrison: “It started at a coffee shop. We were having one of those typically long and passionate rants about our respective countries’ reputations abroad. It led to a deep conversation about how communicators could address misinformation, distorted perceptions about Africa and play a more prominent role in its socio-economic transformation.

When you live or travel outside Africa, the impact of the narrative is so real, tangible, and painful. And it is so easy these days to argue against misperception. We can blame ignorance, lack of education, fake news and the rest for many ills, but when perception goes beyond dinner debate or social media buzz and actually threatens the livelihood and health of millions across the continent, it is time for communication professionals to clean up their own backyard. Are we really doing our best here?

Working in isolation

We wanted to set up something that could bring together communications professionals, who are willing to impact the narrative but are scattered across the world and working in isolation. We considered a big conference.  Location was an issue. Language was also an issue. The forum was conceived to be totally inclusive and open to everyone, not just the usual platforms, within and outside Africa. The idea of an online campaign quickly became obvious. That was how we birthed different events of different formats in different locations around the world, for one week, around Africa.  Our pioneer theme was: “The Role of Communications in Africa’s Development.” That was basically how AfricaCommsWeek was born in a coffee shop.

Holding the pen

Mutumba: “There is no shortage of problematic narratives about Africa. We’re not here to change that. As Africa-focused communicators, we need to be strategic and intentional about the types of stories we tell. How are we deliberately shaping a narrative that is so vital to the transformation of the continent? Until we clearly understand the impact of these narratives on the socio-economic development of the continent, our relevance and influence as a profession would continue to lack strategic value. The Public Relations, PR,  industry must step up and do a better job of telling the real story.

What needs to change is who owns the story. Narratives would continue to coexist but what actually matters is who is holding the pen.

Inter-ethnic conflict

Harrison: Africa’s reputation at home and abroad affects the inflow of foreign direct investment, FDI, curbs tourism, shapes the perception of Africans living abroad in their adoptive countries, and fuels stereotypes that lead to various issues such as inter-ethnic conflict and xenophobia on the continent. The impact, therefore, of social media where many of these conversations are taking place cannot be underestimated. Recent events show that social media is playing an increasing role in the reputation of African people, organisations and brands. For instance, events like the  Ethiopian airlines, elections in Nigeria, DRC, South Africa, politics in Kenya, were defined.

Counter-narrative

Mutamba: Africa, for the most part, is viewed as war-torn, disease riddled and impoverished continent with corrupt leaders. How do we tell the world the better part of our stories without the sensationalism of the western media? Misinformation is a serious obstacle to Africa’s development. When the Ebola outbreak in West Africa was first reported in March 2014, it actually struck Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone which are less than one percent of Africa’s economy.

The subsequent panic and marginalisation led to a drop in Gross Domestic Product, GDP, of almost $400 million in those countries. But the reputational and economic impact went way beyond the three nations involved.  Poor communication and misrepresentation also led to misguided and ineffective policy responses to the health crisis. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been much of a counter-narrative within African shores to balance all these misperceptions.  This is where the profession comes in.

This is a constant PR challenge that Africa needs to face. This is, above all, a collective effort that the PR industry should lead.”

Africa narrative

Harrison: “We all know that reputation is a key driver of growth and development. So why, in this context, is the structural role of the communications sector still massively overlooked?

Our sector needs to demonstrate its relevance as an increasingly important part of Africa’s much-needed economic transformation.

Whether they are in an African country or elsewhere, working at a PR agency in Africa or at the communications department of an international institution or a multinational with operations on the African continent, Africa-focused communications professionals have the power to impact the so-called Africa narrative.”

ACW’s impacts

Harrison:” We now have an amazing network of talented and driven partners in different countries. Seeing AfricaCommsWeek growing and becoming a local brand in so many countries is absolutely awesome! It has turned into a global hub connecting the most brilliant communications leaders passionate about making a difference in Africa. It sparked conversations in all corners of the world about how our profession can contribute to Africa’s socio-economic rise.

Identifying communications practitioners across the globe and building that community is definitely a source of pride and satisfaction. We published the top 30 communication professionals to follow in 2019. And it doesn’t end there. Our aim is to build bridges and help position the profession as a real management discipline that contributes significantly to Africa’s socio-economic rise.”

Joint and personal challenges

“Working with remote teams in different countries, from different cultures and languages is both extremely rewarding and challenging! Technology is key.”

Cultural and gender-based odds

Mutamba: “In one sentence: Always remember why you started. It is not always easy to find the strength to push through pain, discomfort, and doubt but that is an inevitable part of making meaningful change.