Amazing Africa and Incredible India

By Teguest Yilma, New Delhi, India

The India-Africa Editors’ Conference held Thursday April 3rd in New Delhi noted the huge responsibility the media has in partnering the ongoing resurgence in India and Africa.
Opening the one day conference, Indian minister of state for external affairs, Mr. Anand Sharma, stressed the need of fashioning a more robust and contemporary strategic partnership between the two continents. He recalled the historical relationship between India and Africa stating that in the last century, both the peoples of Africa and India were struggling to find the voice of their dignity and respective freedom. “It is important that while we talk about the present we must remain connected with the shared experiences of our past.”
Giving a historical background of India-Africa cooperation, Mr. Anand Sharma said, “Over the years visible efforts to bring together Indian and African editors to share their experiences were made. We have a long history and there is a need of a deeper understanding of our relationship.”
“Our people deserve a better future. We shall overcome the burden of the past and write a new history of a resurgent Africa and emerging India”, Mr. Sharma said.
Organized by the External Publicity Division of India External Affairs Ministry in cooperation with Indo-Asian News Service (IANS), the Indian and African Editors’ conference was held in the run up to the India-Africa Forum Summit, which opens on Tuesday 8th April.
The forum that has invited 14 African countries including Ethiopia, will seek to establish a sustainable strategic and economic partnership between India and Africa, home to one third of the world’s population.
The minister alluded to the fact that the founder of the Indian nation, Mahatma Gandhi, experienced his personal transformation while living in Africa. “Mahatma Gandhi went to Africa and stayed for 22 years. The discrimination and humiliation of the people of Africa moved him as he forged his tools of Satiagara (non-violent resistance),” he said. However, the minister insisted that non-violent resistance did not mean passive resistance as has often been misunderstood. He added that Gandhi’s method of Satiagara was so effective that it defeated the mightiest empire of the 19th century, Britain.
Reflecting on the contemporary context, the minister said that “India has achieved a milestone in its development, which is exactly what Africa is looking for. India is now one of the fastest developing countries in the world. Democracy is taking a firm root. In India, we have 230 million people who live on less than a dollar a day, while in Africa over 40% of the population are in the same category.”
However, he added that Africa is endowed with abundant resources. “It is a tragedy that a continent that is so rich in resources is today in abject poverty. We believe that, that is exactly why India and Africa have to come together and see that our people benefit from our cooperation.”
Speaking specifically about the objective of the editors’ forum, the minister said that “an informed media is critical to economic development and growth, both in India and Africa,” adding that it must also fight corruption.
Mr. Tarun Basu, CEO of the Indo-Asia News Service, on his part urged Indian and African editors to tell their stories from their own perspective, instead of relying on Western media networks that portray Africa as a continent of disaster, disease and catastrophes. He further stated that Indian and African editors should forge close linkages and address their issues of harmful stereotyping of one another.
At the conference themed ‘Building Bridges, Connecting Cultures’, various speakers stressed that much as the task seemed to be difficult, both Indian and African media networks needed to see that they were represented by resident correspondents covering each others’ news in both continents so as to bridge the existing information gap.
Mr. Saeed Naqvi, a leading columnist in India, said that “Western powers have discovered that management of the media is the wining of the war,” referring to the coverage of the Iraq war that “has been staged to suit the military goals of the invading force”. He referred to various stories that were stifled by big power interests and concluded, ironically, “We are in the era of free press!”
Underscoring the role of media in enhancing peace and stability without which democracy cannot flourish, Bernard Mapalala, managing editor of the Guardian in Tanzania, cautioned about the growing influence of major western media news agencies in shaping public opinion and threatening African democracy. He said that for instance, events in Zimbabwe had proved that a sustained foreign media bombardment coupled with targeted economic sanctions could remove a government from power. He reminded editors of their critical role in agenda setting and shaping public opinion for the sake of enhancing national stability.
Another speaker, Sankarshan Thakur, a roving editor, recalled a story of a murdered family in India, whose story did not get immediate space in Indian newspapers and was later used as a filler in the inner pages, simply because those involved were not celebrities but ‘untouchables’. “This is a silence that screams today in the face of our empowered media,” he regretted. Thakur also said that news was being sacrificed for advertising - “Bad news does not sit easily with good adverts.”
With regards to the role of technology and trends of convergence, Nic Dawes, deputy editor with the South African The Mail & Guardian, said “Emerging technological development has had a major impact on the media with the web threatening the growth of the print media.” But he noted “it enables us to speak to the widest possible public. In South Africa, we use all medium. Convergence media makes us reach the world more easily, making the dissemination of information easier and enhanced interaction between the news consumers and producers.”
In his closing remarks, the minister for external affairs, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, quoted Mahatam Gandhi, saying “Commerce between Africa and India will be of exchanges of ideas and services.” He further said, the government of India would continue to support Africa in human resource development, capacity building and technical assistance.
He further stressed that India and Africa should prioritize issues of food security, health security, energy security and climate change.
The conference concluded on a high note. The editors agreed to work towards covering more stories from the two blocks in their respective media and build stronger bridges of cooperation.
Editors from across Africa, namely Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, Senegal, Tanzania, Zambia, Ethiopia, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Uganda, Libya and Congo, exchanged ideas with 20 top editors from India, during the one-day conference.
Some of the topics discussed included, Trends of Media Growth: Creating Understanding and Linkages; Democracy, Accountability and Media, as well as Media and Challenges of Development, Tackling Poverty, Health (HIV and Aids pandemic).
At the India-Africa Summit [April 8-9] Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is expected to attend with other African leaders including President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua of Nigeria, President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania and President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa.