Davos 2016: African Competitiveness Can Change Continent’s Brand

South Africa Leading the Way as Continent Works to Break Out of Media’s Bad News Obsession

January 21, 2016. Davos. – Africa is currently a continent showcasing what is possible – from economic development in South Africa to the deployment of the largest solar energy plant in the world in Morocco. Despite this, however, the continent faces many key challenges in telling its story on international TV news, according to new research from Media Tenor International presented at the World Economic Forum.

“We’re committed to building an investor-friendly environment” in South Africa, says Kingsley Makhubela CEO of Brand South Africa. “While we and the continent have faced challenges from the global economic environment, we have had many successes in 2015 with strong achievements in the automobile, manufacturing, clothing and textiles, and film production sectors. South Africa is open for business, and we’re leading the continent in growing a diverse, stable economy.”

Mustapha El Khalifi, Minister of Communication for Morocco, said that Morocco has started “a series of initiatives to promote a new model for Africa focused on stability, reform, and development” and that reform is essential to meaningful communication that can help Africa capture its rightful place on the media agenda.

Roland Schatz, founder and CEO of Media Tenor, agreed. “The media agenda on Africa needs to shift,” he said. “The key to this is effective communication, highlighting the African brand, focusing on clear perception goals, and engaging in diligent work to close the gaps between Africa’s self-perception versus its perception by the world beyond Africa.”

The Africa Growth Report looks at the gap between media and reality and provides a more thorough perspective on the future of economic, social, and political change on the continent.  Other key contributors include Wenjie Chen and Roger Nord of the African department of the IMF; Enrico Colombatto, economist at the University of Turin; Joeri de Wit, energy economist in the Global Solutions Group for Energy Economics; Peter Draper, Director of Tutwa consulting; Lorenzo Fioramonti, an associate professor at the University of Pretoria; Andreas Freytag, Professor of Economics at the Friedrich Schiller University; Nigist Goytom, Managing Director of Project Traveler; Christoph Wilhelm Kannengiesser, the CEO of the German-African Business Association; Fabian Lange, Associate Research Officer at the Kofi Annan Foundation; Carlos Lopes, the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa; Bulelwa A. Makeke, Head of Communications for the National Prosecuting Authority of South Africa; Charlotte Maponya, Chairwoman of Brand SA and Opera Africa; Minnette Nieuwoudt, Senior Research Executive at Target Group Index; Patrick Osakwe, Head of the Trade and Poverty Branch at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Manusha Pillai, General Manager: Communications at Brand SA; Elisa Portale, energy economist at the World Bank’s Energy Sector Assistance Program; Mark Swilling, Distinguished Professor of Sustainable Development in the School of Public Leadership, University of Stellenbosch; Tesfai Tecle, Senior Advisor on Food and Nutrition Security of the Kofi Annan Foundation; and Michael Matern, Theresa Lotter, and Tobias Thomas of Media Tenor.

For over 20 years Media Tenor's mission has been to contribute to objective, diverse, and newsworthy media content by bringing together the diverse parties. Media Tenor's global research projects include analyses of election campaigns, investor relations, public diplomacy, corporate communications and other topics critical to news makers and news audiences.

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