Africa Communications Week: How do Narratives about Africa Impact the Development of the Continent?

The Lagos edition of the 1^st annual Africa Communications Week hosted by IE Business School and The BBCCompany took place on May 25 2017 at the Oriental Hotel Victoria Island Lagos. The aim was to convene communications leaders from various backgrounds across the world, to ensure the most authoritative and comprehensive metrics to assess the role of communications in Africa’s development, in partnership with the World Communication Forum.

The event welcomed avid communicators and PR professionals from across Lagos, Nigeria, encouraging and engaging them across the board whist critically assessing the role of communications in Africa’s development. ACW Lagos provided opportunities for awareness, networking and solid partnerships.

The Lagos edition of the event featured a panel discussion on the Role of Communicators in Africa’s Development facilitated by Tomilayo Aluko, Principal Consultant, and The BBCCompany. Members of the panel included: Tokunbo George Taylor – Managing Director of Hill+Knowlton Strategies Nigeria, a global public relations company headquartered in New York, Bolaji Alausa – Executive Creative Director of Noah’s Ark, the number one agency in Sub Saharan Africa according to the Loeries 2016 Agency Ranking, and Yomi Owope – Writer, TV presenter and communications specialist, founder of the yearly conference, Women in Journalism and managing director of the SPEC Agency.

IE Business School Professor Carlotta Garcia Abril also gave a presentation on how narratives can be changed by social media.

Key quotes from the discussions:

“We need to focus on building our culture as a Nation” – Bolaji Alausa of Noah’s Ark talking on using culture to change the narrative

“As communicators, we need to figure out how what we say affects the bottom line. We need to give the world a different view” – Eniola Harrison, Co-founder, Africa Communications Week

“Nigerians take media training for granted. All our politicians MUST be media trained” – Tokunbo George Taylor

“We need to project African culture from a Nigerian perspective” – Audience contribution

“Why do we as Africans tell our stories negatively?” – Audience contribution

ACW also promotes knowledge and professional development by hosting informative webinars and masterclasses as well as providing practical tools on how Africa focused communicators can begin to advance more realistic narratives about Africa. 

IE Business School shapes leaders with global vision, an entrepreneurial mindset and a humanistic approach to drive innovation and change in organizations.

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Media partners: The Guardian, Forbes Africa, Ventures Africa, YNaija, Kamdora, Genevieve Magazine, Media Room Hub, Pulse Nigeria, Nigeria Info FM, Smooth FM.