YAOUNDE— Communication professionals from across Africa are resolving to project a positive image of the continent. Experts gathered by the 40-year-old Africa Public Relations Association (APRA) say the Western world mostly focuses on negative issues in Africa, even while there are so many positive things happening in the continent.
Bernard Solo, lecturer at the University of Calabar in Nigeria, said Africa’s image has been painted by Western media outlets in particular as that of a continent that is riddled with strange diseases, poor, heavily indebted, conflict prone and ablaze in war.
“We have been [seeing] unfortunate stories on Africans drowning in the Mediterranean, but what we don’t [see] is success stories of African flying back from Europe with PhDs, with MBA’s and with Bachelor’s degrees to come back to Africa and start companies that contribute positively to the development of GDP’s of our respective economies. Let’s take on the few positive aspects on Africa and build up that then people will start having a different perspective of what is happening in Africa,” said Solo.
Charles Nklonzo from Day Star University in Kenya said the dark image of Africa is a result of many of its leaders’ failures to assure governance and accountability and to practice democracy. He said many African leaders care more about maintaining power than attending to pressing needs of the people they are supposed to serve.
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