Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka told Western newspaper editors on Monday to stop generalising about Africa and concentrate more on the continent’s success stories.
Issues of real concern, such as Western poaching of Africa’s best and brightest talent, were being overlooked as the world’s media focused on wars and poverty, she told the annual world congress of the International Press Institute (IPI) in the Scottish capital.
”Editors have been making choices on how they see Africa — and they have tended to see the dark side,” President Thabo Mbeki’s deputy told representatives from the world’s press.
”Over-generalisation has had the specific result of dishing out collective punishment to all in the continent and discouraging investment, thus holding back progress.
”Out of 54 countries in Africa, only five are in conflict in 2006. Yet the 49 countries are easily compromised by failure to acknowledge peace in most countries and note success of individual nations.”
In a special debate session on Africa, the IPI looked at how the continent topped the news agenda in July last year — because of the Group of Eight (G8) world powers’ summit in Scotland and the Live 8 concerts — then was blown off the front pages by the terror bombings in London.
”Africa, notwithstanding its challenges, has a good story that needs to be told, and told much better,” Mlambo-Ngcuka said.
”It would be wrong to conclude that Africa is a dying continent with no capacity ever to take off. There are opportunities for investment in Africa which are often obscured.
”The poaching of resources is one of our biggest challenges. We think we deserve some compensation. The story of brain drain is a big story that needs to be told.
”I believe Africa has had its fair share of very bad and inaccurate, over-generalised criticism with many dire consequences.”
Lindsey Hilsum, the international editor of Britain’s Channel Four television, said international media would naturally be drawn to report on major African stories — where governments granted them access.
”War happens: that’s news. War is not happening: that’s not the news. Sorry about that,” she said.
”We will do earthquakes, famines — that is just the nature of the news and it is no different for Africa than anywhere else.
”Some of these stories are so damn dangerous that you can’t report them,” Hilsum added.
She also warned against seeing the continent solely through the eyes of aid organisations.
”They have a very influential role in the mind of the public because that tends to be the eye through which we see Africa,” Hilsum said.
Delegates in Edinburgh also debated how Western newspapers covered the upsurge in Chinese investment into Africa in recent years.
The IPI is a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists from some 120 countries, dedicated to press freedom.
Its three-day congress brings together about 450 participants from 60-odd countries to thrash out burning issues in the world’s press.
The 2005 IPI congress was held in Nairobi and had a special African flavour. – Sapa-AFP