Narrative Sovereignty: Africa Reclaims Its Global Voice {Business Africa}

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Narrative Sovereignty: Africa Reclaims Its Global Voice {Business Africa}  Africa Must Own Its Narrative: From misperception to economic power — we examine how strategic communication and leaders like Dorothea Hodge are helping the continent reshape its global reputation    READ MORE : http://www.africanews.com/2025/12/11/narrative-sovereignty-africa-reclaims-its-global-voice-business-africa  Subscribe on our Dailymotion channel and receive all the latest news from the continent.    Africanews is available in English and French.  Website : www.africanews.com  Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/africanews.channel/  Twitter : https://twitter.com/africanews

Transcript

00:00Welcome to another edition of Business Africa.

00:14I'm your host Afolake Uylui, the top stories this week.

00:18Africa must own its narrative from misperception to economic power.

00:22We examine how strategic communication and leaders like Dorothea Hutch

00:27are helping the continent to reshape its global reputation.

00:32A new report shows a 23% surge in solar PV jobs,

00:37expanding energy access and creating economic opportunities across Africa.

00:44Atrophical intelligence gains ground across Africa from rise in adoption

00:48to growing investment leaders are working to ensure no one is left behind

00:53in the digital revolution.

00:57Narrative sovereignty is imagined as Africa's new economic frontier.

01:02Experts like Dorothea Hutch are helping countries bridge the gap

01:06between perception and reality,

01:08unlocking new pathways for investment and growth.

01:11In the global marketplace, a reputation isn't just an image, it's a bill to be paid.

01:20Because of outdated narratives of instability,

01:23African nations are often perceived as high-risk by global credit agencies,

01:28costing the continent billions of dollars annually in inflated borrowing costs,

01:33money that should be building schools and hospitals.

01:37But some are successfully rewriting the script.

01:40Take Rwanda and its signature projects like the Kigali International Finance Centre or KIFC.

01:47Once defined by a history of conflict,

01:50the small East African country has strategically pivoted to become a premier financial hub.

01:56By implementing world-class regulatory frameworks and transparency standards aligned with the OECD,

02:03the KIFC isn't just asking for trust, it's engineering it.

02:08This is the work of experts like Dorothea Hodge.

02:12A former advisor in the Tony Blair government,

02:15she founded Equitas Global to help visionary institutions like the KIFC and the African Development Bank

02:21bridge the gap between perception and reality.

02:25She argues that narrative sovereignty, the power to define one's own economic truth,

02:30is the next frontier for African business.

02:35To discuss this further, we're joined by Dorothea Hodge,

02:38Found and Director of Equitas Global.

02:41Thank you for joining us on the show.

02:43Now, when you started this work, was your goal simply to generate better publicity for African leaders

02:48or to secure respect for African nations on the global stage?

02:53So, I really, really felt when I created Equitas, you know, my ambition was clear,

03:01that I wanted to build a world-class strategic advisory that could elevate the reputations of visionary leaders

03:10and organisations globally, from Africa, the Caribbean, the global south,

03:16and ensure that they were seen and heard and respected on the world stage.

03:22And I would say that 16 years later, I can say with pride that the team at Equitas has delivered on their ambitions

03:29many times over from working with the 19 most conflict-affected countries around the world

03:37and supporting them in their campaign to maintain global support to help them transition to peace,

03:46from working with organisations such as the OECD, working with the African Development Bank in terms of its

03:55women's programme, the ATAWA Women's Finance Initiative, to working with the Kigali International Finance Centre,

04:03we have delivered on that vision multiple times over.

04:07Looking back, have you seen a real shift where grassroots voices have successfully changed global narrative about Africa?

04:17I really do see, our vision was very, very clear, and that was to enable some of these visionary leaders

04:26and organisations from the African, the Caribbean, the global south, the diaspora,

04:32to position their voices on the global stage. And I can say with confidence we have achieved that.

04:39We have helped some of those voices get onto the global stage and ensure their voices, their campaigns,

04:46their ideas, their ideals have been heard. So whether that is working with communities that have experienced

04:53environmental damage through mining, or whether that is working with,

04:59with, and I think Anjali Kidjo calls them the market women, so the women, these micro-entrepreneurs

05:06across the global, across the world, to ensure that their voices are heard, that has driven

05:16our work. Or whether it is the work we've done in the Caribbean, where we've highlighted the

05:23global responsibility to support small island developing states that are facing these violent

05:32climatic episodes such as hurricanes and flooding, and raising their voices and ensuring they are able

05:39to engage on a global level.

05:41Do you feel the global community is listening differently to voices from the diaspora and from

05:47the continent than a day to day could go?

05:50It is a real recognition and an acknowledgement that we have been part of the journey of raising those

05:58diasporan global voices to centre stage. And it signals for us that the world is beginning to pay

06:07attention to some of these voices, these incredible innovations, these incredible ideas, these incredible

06:14ideals. So this is an honour. But the work has only just started from my perspective, because

06:24until we have supported countries to help raise people's lives out of poverty, until every child has

06:33access to water, clean water, education, healthcare, our work is not done. So it's a starting point and it's a

06:42recognition of our work. But there's still more of the journey to go.

06:46Thank you very much for those insights.

06:48Thank you so much.

06:52Africa is emerging as a global hotspot for solar energy jobs with employment

06:58and the sector set to grow by 23%. This growth is being driven by rising investment and the rapid

07:05expansion of off-grid solutions. In 2025, Africa is leading global growth in solar energy jobs.

07:14According to the International Energy Agency, employment in solar photovoltaic, OPV, is expected

07:20to rise by 23% across the continent, even though Africa currently accounts for only 3% of global solar

07:28jobs. This surge is being driven not only by large-scale plants, but also by off-grid solutions,

07:34reaching homes and small businesses. With investor support, companies like Nuru have built microgrids,

07:40including a 1.3 megawatt system in the DRC, and continue to expand.

07:45The addition of solar energy has allowed the company to offer an ecological energy solution

07:50to the local population, who had already had several years of inaccessibility to energy. And thanks to this,

07:56Nuru has helped to transform lives, but also businesses in the local community.

08:01Oji Abulo from Nigeria says financial backers were initially hard to find. They needed to be

08:07convinced they were investing in a good business model. There was a perception that needed to be

08:12broken, which we had to do. So that difficulty was there, but a good thing was that we had a lot of

08:22early backers who believed that the solar industry will become what it is today, right? Which is,

08:28there will be a lot of investment in the space. There will be advancements in technology and also the

08:33reduction in cost as a result of it. Across Africa, the solar boom is creating a wide variety of jobs,

08:40from installation and maintenance to sales and logistics. Globally, solar PV has become the

08:46largest employer in the electricity sector, with about five million workers in 2024.

08:51artificial intelligence is gaining ground across Africa with the market projected to reach 16.5

09:00billion dollars by 2030, according to Mastercard. Experts warn that the digital divide could widen

09:08unless access, skills and infrastructure keep pace. Across Africa, artificial intelligence is moving from

09:15promise to reality. The continent's AI market, valued at about 4.9 billion dollars in 2025, is projected to

09:23reach 16.5 billion dollars by 2030, growing at roughly 27 percent per year, while around 40 percent of African

09:31organizations have already begun using or testing generative AI. The key question now, can Africa scale AI

09:39without deepening existing inequalities? You can see the importance of the, the balance, balancing

09:48the opportunities of AI and the risk of widening inequalities gap. But before, we always place a

09:56caveat on that, in the sense that when you look at it, the way artificial intelligence will impart

10:02Africa is entirely different from the way it will impart developing countries. According to McKinsey,

10:08generative AI could unlock between 61 billion dollars and 103 billion dollars per year for Africa's

10:15economy, especially in retail, telecom and public services. But weak infrastructure and uneven connectivity

10:22across the continent risk concentrating these benefits in a few well-connected regions.

10:28To ensure even the disadvantaged and underserved areas we have assessed and they can take advantage

10:34so that they are not left behind in this digital economy. While more countries are adopting ethical

10:41AI and data governance frameworks, significant investment is still needed in technology, skills,

10:48and infrastructure to turn promise into real impact.

10:55That brings us to the end of this edition of Business Africa. Thank you for watching.

11:00For more business stories and the latest updates, stay tuned to African News or visit us online at Africannews.com. See you soon.

11:07Business Africa was presented by Turkish Airlines.

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