OPENING REMARKS BY GCIS DIRECTOR-GENERAL PHUMLA WILLIAMS AT AFRICA COMMUNICATIONS WEEK
23 MAY 2022
The Minister in the Presidency
Programme Director;
Fellow Communicators;
Distinguished guests;
Ladies and gentlemen.
Greetings to everyone. It is my honor to welcome you all to this year’s Africa Communications Week. We gather this year under an exciting theme “Ahead of the Curve: What’s Next for Comms in Africa?” The theme challenges us as communicators to be ahead on how we inform, educate and entertain our respective constituencies.
We gather at this venue to allow us to remind ourselves of our sad and painful history in our struggle to bring about the freedom we enjoy today. Some of our peace-loving South Africans such as Mama Albertina Sisulu, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, and Fatima Meer, were incarcerated here at the Constitution Hill, Woman’s Jail.
Today, Constitution Hill is a living museum that tells the story of South Africa’s journey to democracy. It bears testament to South Africa’s turbulent past as well as the type of future we are building.
It is indeed fitting that we convene as the continent’s communication professionals, in a venue that is today viewed as a beacon of hope. This week we will engage and reflect on the challenges facing the continent and, how we can play our part as communicators in Africa.
Fellow Communicators
Without a doubt, it has been a difficult two years for the continent, as we count the cost in human lives and livelihoods from the ravages of the COVID-19. Our recovery from the pandemic will take a great deal of effort and resources. It is up to us as Africans to put our best foot forward and guide our continent on a new trajectory of progress, prosperity, and self-reliance.
Amid the devastation caused by COVID-19, we learned key lessons as communicators. The pandemic has demonstrated the power and value of effective communication. Communication became an essential tool in combating the spread of the virus. It equally played a significant role in getting the participation of citizens in the vaccination drive.
We have an opportunity as communicators to build on lessons learned. We collaborated and moved with speed in raising the awareness of the virus and also responding to the challenges of the spread of misinformation. We embraced the use of technology to ensure effective communication.
In South Africa, communications played an instrumental role in keeping South Africans abreast of critical developments in the fight against the virus. It was an effective tool in, reassuring citizens at the height of the pandemic crisis. Our transition to the digital and virtual world through national portals, mobile apps, and social media ensured the spread of information far and wide to those with access to the internet.
The pandemic had not only tested the nation’s resolve but also the robustness of our communication system. I am proud to say that private and public sector communication systems rose to the challenge. We gained valuable experience on what we can achieve as united communicators. We saw government together with other key stakeholders unite under the National Communication Partnership coordinated by the Government Communication and Information System. The spirit of volunteerism throughout this period was unsurpassed and should be harnessed once more by us as communicators to catapult Africa forward.
Ladies and gentlemen
As the continent’s communicators, we have an important task ahead of us – to continue to take forward the message of hope, to our Continent. It begins with us working together as communication professionals to change the narrative of the continent.
The coverage of disasters, famine, terrorism, and corruption alone has created a distorted view of Africa. It has created the impression in many, that the continent lurches from one crisis to another. This undoubtedly has a negative impact on the development of the continent and its people.
Our role as communicators is to find ways to shift Africa’s narrative to the one of Africa on the rise. There are numerous exciting developments on the continent that need to be communicated to its citizens and the world.
More people need to know that Africa is working hard to improve its capabilities in vaccine and medical supplies manufacturing. Earlier this year, we saw NantAfrica, a division of global entrepreneur Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong’s Nantworks, launch the state-of-the-art medical infrastructure to accelerate domestic production of pharmaceuticals that include vaccines that will reach users across the African continent.
This is the largest genomics facility on the African continent. It is an important milestone in the development of advanced healthcare on the continent. It places Africa at the forefront of genome research and bolsters the continent’s epidemic and pandemic public health response.
Our proactive communication on African issues will set our agenda and reframe our narrative. For instance, we have seen despite the COVID-19 pandemic, African countries have maintained their spending on infrastructure projects. This is confirmed by the Deloitte African Construction Trends 2021 Outlook report, which records an increase in the number of infrastructure projects by a fifth compared with 2020.
Let us communicate Africa’s changing landscape, represented by about 462 infrastructure projects across the continent valued at $521 billion.
The highest number of projects across the continent were in the transport sector with 197 projects recorded. The energy sector registered 88 projects while there were 85 real estate sector projects.
African governments owned about 73.8 percent of these projects. South Africa recorded 37 projects valued at $54.7bn. It includes the Kusile power plant, Waterfall City Development, Baywest City Precinct, Steyn City development, and the Roggeveld wind power project.
The African Continental Free Trade Area presents enormous opportunities. The recent adoption of Rules of Origin covering 87 percent of goods on the tariff lines of African Union member states is a historic breakthrough, that demonstrates our commitment to dramatically scale up intra-African trade.
We must put forward a common front towards promoting Agenda 2063, which is Africa’s strategic roadmap to move us to a free, safe, and fully developed continent. Agenda 2063 reflects the aspirations of Africa as a continent with a strong cultural identity, values, and ethics.
In support of Agenda 2063, we can foster unity amongst all Africans across the continent.
In conclusion,
In the next two days, we will mark Africa Day on 25 May where we come together to promote African unity, and deeper regional integration and recommit Africa to a common destiny.
Our national interests are interlinked to build the Africa we want! Let us use this week to remind each other, that we are human beings from the same Continent only separated by man-made borders.
I look forward to our robust engagement on how we tap into the power of communications for the benefit of our continent.
Thank you