NARRATIVE REPORT, Study notes of Business

Download NARRATIVE REPORT and more Study notes Business in PDF only on Docsity! R i c h a r d A d d y , C o - F o u n d e r , A K A S F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 2 NARRATIVE REPORT THE BUSINESS IN AFRICA Acknowledgments This project is a collaboration between Africa No Filter and AKAS. The report was prepared by a team led by Richard Addy, co-founder of AKAS. Data analysis by Richard Addy and Peter Todorov with support from Samuel Matsiko. Research assistants were Hannan Rais and Emma Wilson. Editing and proof reading by Judy Nagle and additional proof reading by Liz Sparg. Design and layout by Sharkbouys. Project coordination by Natasha Kimani. About Africa No Filter Africa No Filter is a not-for-profit international organisation that supports the development of nuanced and contemporary stories that shift stereotypical and harmful narratives within and about Africa. Through research, grant-making, advocacy, and community building, we aim to develop an ecosystem of narrative change-makers by supporting storytellers, investing in media platforms and driving disruptive campaigns. We believe that if we invest our money, time, and voice into the community of African storytellers and content creators, we will over time see an increase in narratives and stories that reflect a more diverse, dynamic, and evolving continent. About AKAS AKAS is an award-winning international audience strategy consultancy founded in 2012, delivering impact, audience, corporate, narrative and communication strategies to a wide range of purpose-led organisations. AKAS has worked with over 50 clients including The Guardian, BBC News, BBC World Service, The Fuller Project/ Nation Media Group, The World Bank, IMF, OECD, European Investment Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Asian Development Bank, International Energy Agency, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Open Society Foundations, Thomson Foundation, Luminate, Adessium, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, Wellcome, George Lucas Foundation, Participant Media and Warner Bros. AKAS recently won the Media Research Group’s award for best international research and a Gold Anthem Award for purpose and mission-driven work. Co-founder Richard Addy is also a board member of Guardian.org. TH E BUSI N ESS I N AFR ICA NAR RATIVE R EPORT 5 Executive summary Last year, African Development Bank President Dr Akinwumi Adesina told an audience of African Ambassadors in Washington that a concerted effort to change the narrative on Africa in the United States was necessary to attract increased US investments into the continent. He is right. Several academic researchers have proved a correlation between media coverage and investment levels, and one study of the stock market in the US showed that media visibility led to more investment than under- investment. The African Continental Free Trade Area is the largest free trade area in the world, with 54 participating countries and access to a combined Gross Domestic Product of $3.4 trillion. Yet this makes up under 1% of business news and analysis about business in Africa in global and African media. The absence is glaring. Very few institutions are as powerful as the media. As storytellers to millions, they have the power to shape public perceptions and inform narratives – good and bad – about the investment landscape and opportunities in Africa. Africa No Filter believes that there has never been a better moment to change the investment narrative on Africa, and in order to do that, we need data. So we commissioned The Business in Africa Narrative Report because, to date, we have not been able to find any detailed data analysis that unpacks African and international narratives, stories and frames about business in Africa. Our report fills that gap, providing the most comprehensive quantitative analysis every undertaken. We show the keywords, frames, stories and narratives associated with business in Africa are dangerously distorted. There is an overemphasis on the role of governments, foreign powers and larger African states alongside an underappreciation of the role of young people, women, entrepreneurs, creative businesses, smaller successful African states and Africa’s future potential. This report investigates news and content about business in Africa and the impact of perceptions about Africa as a business and investment destination. It also identifies information and news gaps that offer alternative framing for business in Africa. The report analysed over 750 million stories published between 2017 and 2021 on more than 6,000 African news sites and 183,000 sites outside the continent. Insights were gained using eight research approaches, including analysing trends on Twitter, academic research and literature reviews as well as 22 global business indices. The report found seven significant frames to stories about business in Africa: 1. More negative coverage: International media are more likely to negatively frame issues that impact on business in Africa while African media are twice as likely to reference corruption in their coverage of business in Africa compared to international media. 2. Foreign powers scramble for Africa: 70% of international coverage about business in Africa is dominated by references to foreign 6 TH E BUSI N ESS I N AFR ICA NAR RATIVE R EPORT powers like China, the USA, Russia, France and the UK. 3. Africa is two countries: Business in Africa coverage focuses on South Africa and Nigeria while business stars like Mauritius, Botswana, the Seychelles and Namibia get little coverage and research attention. 4. Silencing creativity, amplifying technology: Despite Nollywood being the world’s second-largest film industry and the growing impact of musical influences like AfroBeats and AmaPiano, creative businesses were only featured in 1% of all articles across African and global media. 5. Youth and women are underrepresented: Africa claims the top three spots in the Mastercard Index for the highest concentration of women business owners in the world. It also has the youngest population globally. However, youth and women are underrepresented. In fact, online news coverage of young people has declined since 2017, falling from 12.5% of articles referencing young people in 2017 to 8.1% in 2021. 6. Government, policy and regulations dominate: Around 54.5% of business news in 2021 was framed through government action and policies. Additionally, African media focused more on themes related to government than on those related to entrepreneurship. Yet, African countries make up six of the top 10 countries whose populations were most likely to search for the topic of entrepreneurship in 2021. 7. Missing Free Trade Area and investment: It makes up 1% of news and academic research, yet the agreement is expected to lift 30 million Africans out of extreme poverty and boost the incomes of nearly 68 million others. It’s also projected to boost Africa’s income by $450 billion by 2035 and increase Africa’s exports by $560 billion, mostly in manufacturing. Stories and the perceptions they create are powerful. Stories about business in Africa - and how they are framed - have a direct impact on individuals’ motivation and desire to set up new businesses, and to trade with, invest in or finance businesses. This report shows why it’s critical to shift perceptions about business in Africa, and presents over 30 trends that many analysts and business writers miss out on. MOKY MAKU RA Executive Director of Africa No Filter TH E BUSI N ESS I N AFR ICA NAR RATIVE R EPORT 7 List of abbreviations AEC African Economic Community AUC African Union Commission AfCFTA African Continental Free Trade Area AFP Agence France-Presse ANF Africa No Filter AP Associated Press FDI Foreign direct investment IIoT Industrial internet of things OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development UNCTAD United Nations Conference on Trade and Development UNECA United Nations Economic Commission for Africa WSJ The Wall Street Journal 10 TH E BUSI N ESS I N AFR ICA NAR RATIVE R EPORT • Technology and innovation frames are widely used in coverage of business in Africa (see Section 6.4). Frame 5: “Where are the youth and the women?” • The voices of youth are not heard enough in coverage of business in Africa, and internationally the sentiment in youth coverage is negative (see Section 6.5). • African media cover gender equality issues in business more than international media do, but coverage levels are still very low (see Section 6.5). Frame 6: “Government everywhere” • Most coverage of business in Africa references government, policy or regulations (see Section 6.6). Frame 7: “Missing Free Trade Area and investment” • The African Continental Free Trade Area is getting little attention from media, researchers, think tanks and academia (see Section 6.7). • Foreign direct investment is treated as a niche subject in coverage of business in Africa (see Section 6.7). TH E BUSI N ESS I N AFR ICA NAR RATIVE R EPORT 11 2. Exploring negative frames: “Coups in Africa” – case study On 4 November 2021, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), a leading international business newspaper, declared in a headline, “Military Coups in Africa at Highest Level Since End of Colonialism: Attempted or successful coups in Africa are occurring more frequently as democratic states buckle under pressure from COVID-19”2 (see Figure 1a). The headline, the article and the accompanying audio discussions exemplified three of the seven frames found in our wider examination of stories about business in Africa: • International media take a predominantly negative tone about Africa (Frame 1). Relying on analysts from the global north, the WSJ provided a more negative interpretation of development than the African-based think tank, Institute for Security Studies (ISS). • Foreign powers are seen as the protagonists and Africa the pawn in a geo-political game (Frame 2). The WSJ article discusses the strategic roles of external powers – in this case China, Russia, the USA, France and the European Union. This emphasis on foreign powers is common among non-African storytellers. • Youth perspectives are missing (Frame 5). Despite the critical role that young people have played in democratic struggle across the continent, this was not highlighted in the WSJ article. Such framing can and does distort investment decisions and perceptions about doing business in Africa. While some claim that it is a merely a statement of fact that the number of successful coups has increased from one in 2020 to four in 2021 (with one further attempted coup), an examination of the stories shows that the WSJ could have chosen to highlight a number of other facts. For example, in 2021, 50 African countries (over 92%) did not experience a coup, the percentage of African countries deemed free by Freedom House increased from 14% to 16%, and the number of attempted and successful military coups (five) was in fact no higher than in previous years (five in 2012) or, indeed, had decreased (from nine in 2013). Ironically, a day before this WSJ article was published, the ISS also published an analysis showing how similar information could be presented in a more nuanced way, balancing positive and negative democracy trends across Africa, as well as highlighting the pro-democracy role being played by younger people3 (see Figure 1c). A comparison of these two approaches provides an example of how narratives can have a very damaging effect on perceptions of the business environment in Africa. When AKAS surveyed Americans to probe how they interpreted the headline “Military 2. Faucon et al., 2021 3. Gopaldas, 2021 12 TH E BUSI N ESS I N AFR ICA NAR RATIVE R EPORT Coups in Africa at Highest Level Since End of Colonialism”, a quarter assumed that there were more than 45 military coups in Africa in 2021, thus indicating the power of framing.4 This is not an isolated incident. On 14 November 2021, a Financial Times article also declared in a headline, “‘Failure of Democracy’: Why are Coups on the Rise in Africa? As dissatisfaction with democratically elected leaders intensifies, militaries are extending their grip”5 (see Figure 1b). When UK audiences were asked how they interpreted this headline, as in the US, a quarter assumed that there were more than 45 coups in Africa in 2021. Figure 1: The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and Institute for Security Studies – negative and positive frames about democracy trends in Africa6 4. AKAS-commissioned Google Survey in 2021, asking a representative sample of 761 US adults the following question: “A recent article stated, ‘Military Coups in Africa at Highest Level Since End of Colonialism’. How many African military coups in 2021 do you think the article is referring to?” Final results from the fieldwork between 9 and 23 Nov 2021: 0–5: 23.2%; 6–15: 21.3%; 16–25: 13.4%; 26–35: 10.1%; 36–45: 7.6%; 45+: 24.4%. 5. Munshim & Schipani, 2021 6. Sources: a) Faucon et al. (2021); b) Munshim and Schipani (2021); c) Gopaldas (2021) 2 a b c Figure 1: The Wall Street Journal, Financial Tim s and Ins?tute for Security Studies – nega?ve and posi?ve frames about democracy trends in Africa Sources: a) Faucon et al. (2021); b) Munshim and Schipani (2021); c) Gopaldas (2021) a b c TH E BUSI N ESS I N AFR ICA NAR RATIVE R EPORT 15 5. Insights and trends Some of the trends and insights uncovered during our research are explored and described in more detail below. Evidence points to Africans having the highest level of interest in business globally. In 2021, eight out of the 10 countries that had the highest proportion of their online population searching for business issues globally, using Google to search, were African (see Figure 3). More specifically, nine of the 10 countries with the highest search rates on the topic of “business ideas” were African, while all 10 countries with the highest search rates on the topic of “business plans” were African. Trends in business journalism with a focus on Africa have also demonstrated increased interest. Between 1990 and 2015, researchers found “a sharp rise in business journalism about Africa”10, which led to a discussion about “How business news shapes Africa’s image”. This rise appears to be marked by newswires such as AFP, AP and especially Reuters giving greater prominence to business stories.11 In addition, “nearly every major global television network such as BBC, CNN, CGTN, CNBC, Bloomberg, Al Jazeera, France 24 has programs dedicated to covering Africa and largely from their point of view. Most have multiple programs on Africa”.12 10. Bunce, 2018 11. Bunce, 2017 12. Ndlovu, 2020 13. AKAS analysis of Google searches for business-related terms (Google Trends, 1 Jan 2021–9 Nov 2021) Figure 3: African countries have the highest search rate on Google for the topic of business13 4 Google searches for the topic of business (Jan 21–Oct 21) Score of 100 reflects the country with the highest rela?ve search rate Figure 3 : African countries have the highest search rate on Google for the topic of busi ess AKAS analysis of Google search s for business-related terms (Google Trends, 1 Jan 2021–9 Nov 2021) 1.  Zimbabwe 2.  Ethiopia 3.  Jamaica 4.  Philippines 5.  Kenya 6.  Tanzania 7.  China 8.  South Africa 9.  Nigeria 10.  Uganda 100 84 75 71 68 67 61 52 67 61 16 TH E BUSI N ESS I N AFR ICA NAR RATIVE R EPORT An ANF-commissioned report, “How African Media Covers Africa”14, found that of the over 300 stories manually sampled, 13% came under the “business, economics and trade” category, representing a sizeable share of African newsrooms’ output. This was the joint second largest category along with conflict coverage, ranking just behind politics at 14%. One major US-based big data study of “Afro- pessimism” and “Africa rising” narratives looked at nearly 140,000 stories from The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and other USA newspapers over the 25-year period between 1994 and 2018 and found that business and economics represented the largest category of stories, out of a total of 14 categories.15 In the 1980s and 1990s, sub-Saharan countries experienced painful declines in GDP per capita16 that placed them at the bottom of the global economic and business league tables. However, by 2020, despite COVID-19, sub-Saharan Africa boasted seven of the top 10 fastest growing economies, while “the 200 largest sub-Saharan African companies by market capitalization rewarded investors with a 13% total return, beating the global emerging market average of 12% and the global frontier market, which lost 3%”.17 It is therefore no surprise that in the field of academic research, the proportion of “Africa” referenced papers on Google Scholar that also mention the term “business” quadrupled, rising from 10% in 2000 to over 40% in 2021 (see Figure 4). 15. Bleich et al., 2020 16. Ayuba and Haynes, 2017 17. Bloomberg, 2020 18. AKAS literature review of the percentage of academic papers mentioning the term “Africa” that also include the term “business” (Google Scholar, 2000–2021), 2021 Figure 4: Business references are increasing in academic papers that mention Africa18 5 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 20 00 20 01 20 02 20 03 20 04 20 05 20 06 20 07 20 08 20 09 20 10 20 11 20 12 20 13 20 14 20 15 20 16 20 17 20 18 20 19 20 20 20 21 The percentage of “Africa” referenced academic papers that include the term “business” (2000–2021) Figur 4: Busi ess references are increasing in academic papers that men?on Africa AKAS literature review of the percentage of academic papers menYoning the term “Africa” that also include the term “business” (Google Scholar, 2000–2021), 2021 TH E BUSI N ESS I N AFR ICA NAR RATIVE R EPORT 17 What is more surprising is that, at a time when business in Africa has become a “hot topic”, the overall volume of academic papers that reference “Africa” has declined sharply, falling from a peak of over a million papers in 2012 to just over 200,000 papers in 2020. A slower but still pronounced decline in articles that reference “Africa” and “business” has been in evidence since 2014 (see Figure 5). Figure 5: “Africa” and “Africa” and “business” references in academic papers have declined in the last decade19 19. AKAS literature review of the percentage of academic papers mentioning the term “Africa”, and those mentioning the terms “Africa” and “business” (Google Scholar, 2000–2021), 2021 6 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 20 00 20 01 20 02 20 03 20 04 20 05 20 06 20 07 20 08 20 09 20 10 20 11 20 12 20 13 20 14 20 15 20 16 20 17 20 18 20 19 20 20 20 21 M ill io ns Africa Africa Business “Africa” “Africa” and “business” Academic papers referencing “Africa” and “Africa” and "Business” (2000–2020) Figure 5: “Africa” and “Africa” and “business” references in academic papers have decli ed in the last decad AKAS literature review of the percentage of academic papers menYoning the term “Africa”, and those menYoning the terms “Africa” and “business” (Google Scholar, 2000–2021), 2021 20 TH E BUSI N ESS I N AFR ICA NAR RATIVE R EPORT Figure 7: 2017–2021 volume trends for the frames – the Group 2 and Group 6 frames are the only two that were found in most articles21 21. AKAS analysis of the impact of the seven frames, 2021 6.1 Frame 1: “More negative coverage” International media cover stories referencing “Africa” and “business” more negatively than African media. Stories that reference “corruption” (about 10% of the total) are the most negative, and, surprisingly, corruption stories are more likely to appear in African media. A recent example of such coverage was an article in Nigeria’s Premium Times, entitled “South Africa’s construction mafia trains its sights on local government”, which described how “A growing extortion ‘mafia’ is sweeping across South Africa, crippling construction and small businesses with threats and bribes”.22 Figure 8 (for African media) and Figure 9 (for non-African media) set out the prevalence of 34 keyword clusters against whether the tone of those clusters was positive or negative during the period January 2021 to September 2021. They show that non-African media contained far fewer keyword clusters with a positive tone than African media. 22. Mulaudzi and Lancaster, 2021 TH E BUSI N ESS I N AFR ICA NAR RATIVE R EPORT 21 11 Figure 8: In African media most of the keyword clusters had a posi?ve tone* but a lower prevalence** AKAS survey and analysis of tone and prevalence of arYcles menYoning the terms “Africa” and “business” that contain the keyword clusters (GDELT, African media, 1 Jan 2017–30 Sept 2021), 2021 24 25 31 4 34 30 27 29 18 22 33 28 7 8 32 3 14 10 19 5 11 20 13 12 9 21 6 -1.5 -2.5 -0.5 0.0 -1.0 -2.0 +0.5 +1.0 +1.5 +2.5 +2.0 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% +3.0 0% Lower volumes nega?ve tone Higher volumes nega?ve tone Lower volumes posi?ve tone Higher volumes posi?ve tone African media (Jan–Sep 21) Posi?ve tone Nega?ve tone 1 2 1 2 Crea?ve business AfCFTA Entrepreneurial Technology/ innova?on Egypt Gender equality Nigeria Kenya Youth Morocco Cote D'Ivoire Ghana Rwanda Tunisia Foreign direct investment Mauri?us Botswana Trade Uganda Namibia Zimbabwe Policy China Foreign power Covid USA Government France UK South Africa Seychelles Regula?ons Russia Corrup?on 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 17 15 16 26 23 22 TH E BUSI N ESS I N AFR ICA NAR RATIVE R EPORT Figure 8: In African media most of the keyword clusters had a positive tone* but a lower prevalence**23 *tone – positive or negative tone of articles in the keyword cluster **prevalence – percentage of articles mentioning “Africa” and “business” that have this keyword 23. AKAS survey and analysis of tone and prevalence of articles mentioning the terms “Africa” and “business” that contain the keyword clusters (GDELT, African media, 1 Jan 2017–30 Sept 2021), 2021 TH E BUSI N ESS I N AFR ICA NAR RATIVE R EPORT 25 Figure 11: Links to pan-African and international news brands (2021)26 26. AKAS’s key influencers content analysis in 2021, using Ahref’s search engine optimisation software to track how many websites globally linked to 35 pan-African and international business and general news media 14 Pan- African or international media Business or general media News provider Websites linking to content CNBC Africa 8,768 Business Insider Africa 3,345 African Business 3,230 Africa Business 1,505 Business Elites Africa Magazine 1,109 Africa Outlook 1,077 Business Times African 213 The Entrepreneur Africa 57 All Africa 77,886 Africa Report 27,294 Jeune afrique 25,439 Africanews 15,864 New African 2,721 Forbes 1,412,148 Business Insider 775,628 Reuters 720,909 Wall Street Journal 687,494 Bloomberg 611,503 CNBC 506,679 Financial Times 471,277 Economist 308,803 Associated Press 197,791 Agence France-Presse (AFP) 63,039 New York Times 1,600,719 CNN 1,317,204 BBC 1,235,439 Guardian 1,067,922 Washington Post 979,622 BBC 638,604 DW 481,159 Al Jazeera 351,104 France 24 291,164 Euronews 237,937 CGTN 183,149 CCTV 160,599 General Business General Business Pan-African International Figure 11: Links to pan-African and interna?onal news brands (2021) AKAS’s key influencers content analysis in 2021, using Ahref’s search engine opYmisaYon socware to track how many websites globally linked to 35 pan-African and internaYonal business and general news media 26 TH E BUSI N ESS I N AFR ICA NAR RATIVE R EPORT Additionally, the volume of stories about business and Africa or about individual African countries is higher outside Africa, which is a function of the news media space generally being significantly larger outside Africa. A number of trends and insights illustrate how powerful the “Foreign powers’ scramble for Africa” frame is. For example: • Foreign powers (such as China, the UK, the USA, France or Russia) were mentioned in nearly 70% of non-African media articles that reference “Africa” and “business” (see Figure 9). In African media, the figure was less than 20%.(see Figure 8). • Between 2017 and 2021, mentions of foreign powers (such as China, the UK, the USA, France or Russia) in media articles that referenced “Africa” and “business” increased from 55% to 70% (see Appendix 1). • The “Foreign powers’ scramble for Africa” frame increased in international media articles between 2017 and 2021, at times in 2021 exceeding 80% (see Figure 12). Figure 12: Prevalence of mentions of foreign power27 27. AKAS analysis in 2021 of the prevalence of articles mentioning the terms “Africa” and “business” containing the foreign powers keywords: USA, United States, Russia, China, United Kingdom, Britain, France (GDELT, 1 Jan 2021–30 Sep 2021) 28. AKAS analysis in 2021 of the prevalence of articles mentioning the terms “Africa” and “business” containing the foreign power keywords: USA, United States, Russia, China, United Kingdom, Britain, France compared to specific mentions of the countries individually (GDELT, 1 Jan 2021–30 Sep 2021) 15 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Jan-17 Jan-18 Jan-19 Jan-20 Jan-21 Prevalence of foreign power men?ons (African & non-African media, 7-day moving average, Jan 17–Sep 21) Africa Global (ex Africa) Figure 12: Prevalence of men?ons of f reign power AKAS analysis in 2021 of the prevalence of arYcles menYoning th terms “Af ica” and “business” containing the foreign powers keywords: USA, United States, Russia, China, United Kingdom, Britain, France (GDELT, 1 Jan 2021–30 Sep 2021) Figure 13: Prevalence of “foreign power” keyword clusters in African media vs non-African media28 16 Figure 13: Prevalence of “foreign power” keyword clusters in African media vs no -Afric media (Jan-Sept 2021) AKAS analysis in 2021 of the prevalence of arYcles menYoning the terms “Africa” and “business” containing the foreign power keywords: USA, United States, Russia, China, United Kingdom, Britain, France compared to specific menYons of the countries individually (GDELT, 1 Jan 2021–30 Sep 2021) Prevalence of key word clusters (African media, Jan – Sep 21) 25,8% 10,7% 8,9% 8,0% 7,0% 2,3% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 76,8% 53,2% 47,6% 47,5% 41,6% 33,2% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% l f l (African edia, Jan Sep 21) Prevalence of keyword clusters (Non-African media, Jan–Sep 21) TH E BUSI N ESS I N AFR ICA NAR RATIVE R EPORT 27 • Mentions of the USA in Africa and business- referenced stories in international media have increased, reaching an average of 48% in 2021 (see Figure 13). • Mentions of China in Africa and business- referenced stories in international media have also grown (see Figure 14), with the proportion averaging 53% in 2021. • The 2020 African news media content analysis of 85 African media stories referencing business and economics-related issues revealed that 43% of the stories mentioned China, the USA, Russia, the UK or France.30 • The 2021 key influencers content analysis found that 10 international business media (Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Economist, Forbes, Business Insider, CNBC, Bloomberg, Agence France-Presse (AFP), Associated Press and Reuters) had three times as many references to Africa and business in their articles during 2021 than 14 pan-African media properties (African Business, Africa Business, Business Elites Africa Magazine, Business Times Africa, Africa Outlook, The Entrepreneur Africa, Business Insider Africa, CNBC Africa, Africa Report, New African, All Africa, Africanews and Jeune Afrique). • The 2000–2021 literature review found that in 2021, 63% of all academic papers mentioning Africa and business also mentioned United States, while 55% mentioned China. Both these figures represent five-year highs. • The 2017–2021 news media content analysis, which assessed the most commonly mentioned international brands in African Figure 14: Prevalence of mentions of China29 29. AKAS analysis in 2021 of the prevalence of articles mentioning “Africa” and “business” and containing the keyword “China” (GDELT, 1 Jan 2021–to 30 Sep 2021) 30. AKAS’ African news media content analysis in 2021 using the data set in Africa No Filter, 2021 17 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Jan-17 Jan-18 Jan-19 Jan-20 Jan-21 Prevalence of China men?ons (African and non-African media, 7-day moving average, Jan 17–Sep 21) Africa Global (ex Africa) Figure 14: Prevalence of men?ons of China AKAS analysis in 2021 of the prevalence of arYcles menYoning “Africa” and “business” and containing the keyword “China” (GDELT, 1 Jan 2021–to 30 Sep 2021) 30 TH E BUSI N ESS I N AFR ICA NAR RATIVE R EPORT Figure 16: Prevalence of 15 African countries in “Africa” and “business” stories (African media, Jan-Sept 2021)34 34. AKAS analysis of the prevalence of articles mentioning the terms “Africa” and “business” containing references to 15 African countries – South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Uganda, Morocco, Cote D’Ivoire, Botswana, Tunisia, Mauritius, Namibia and the Seychelles (GDELT, African media, 1 Jan 2021 to 30 Sept 2021), 2021 35. Ibid. Figure 17: Prevalence of 15 African countries in “Africa” and “business” stories (non-African media, Jan-Sept 2021)35 19 Figure 16: Prevalence of 15 African countries in “Africa” and “business” stories (African media, Jan-Sept 2021) AKAS analysis of the prevalence of arYcles menYoning the terms “Africa” and “business” containing references to 15 African countries – South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Uganda, Morocco, Cote D’Ivoire, Botswana, Tunisia, MauriYus, Namibia and the Seychelles (GDELT, African media, 1 Jan 2021 to 30 Sept 2021), 2021 38,8% 20,5% 13,8% 11,3% 7,4% 5,7% 5,2% 5,1% 4,6% 3,1% 2,7% 2,5% 2,4% 2,3% 0,9% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 20 Figure 17: Prevalence of 15 African countries in “Africa” and “business” stories (non-African media, Jan-Sept 2021) Ibid. 47,2% 20,0% 12,3% 4,8% 4,1% 3,5% 1,6% 1,4% 1,4% 1,3% 1,0% 0,8% 0,6% 0,6% 0,6% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50% TH E BUSI N ESS I N AFR ICA NAR RATIVE R EPORT 31 Figure 18: Summary of the “There are only South Africa and Nigeria” frame36 36. Summary analysis carried out by AKAS in 2021 As the summary in Figure 18 shows, the narrative attention on business in Africa in news media, academia and research is dominated by South Africa, and to a lesser extent Nigeria and Egypt, with smaller business “stars” such as Mauritius, Botswana and the Seychelles receiving less attention. An in-depth analysis of 21 business indices showed the 15 top performing African countries (see Figure 19). This list contains many countries that tend to get very little narrative attention, namely Mauritius (ranked no. 1); Botswana (6); the Seychelles (8); Namibia (9); and Cape Verde (11). In addition, analysis of 15 pan-African and global surveys containing 100 business questions revealed that Nigerian respondents featured in 84% of the surveys and South African respondents in 74%, while respondents from smaller states were not included in most of the surveys: Mauritius (42%), Cape Verde (34%) and the Seychelles (4%) (Figure 20). We have identified trends that illustrate the potency of the “There are only South Africa and Nigeria” frame. For example: • The number of mentions of South Africa in business stories increased across African and global media between 2017 and 2021, averaging about 40% in 2021 (see Figure 21). • Mentions of larger states (South Africa and Nigeria) in Africa and business stories also grew across African and global media between 2017 and 2021 (see Figure 22), increasing from 36% in 2017 to an average of 50% in 2021 (see Appendix 1). 21 African business is more than South Africa and Nigeria South Africa is the dominant African country in business ar?cles Crowded-out states African business stars aren’t heard Research is missing Africa’s business champions Mauri?us – Africa’s unsung business hero Larger state dominance “There are only South Africa and Nigeria” Figure 18: Summary of the “There are only South Africa and Nigeria” frame Summary analysis carried out by AKAS in 2021 32 TH E BUSI N ESS I N AFR ICA NAR RATIVE R EPORT Figure 19: African countries ranked by position across 21 business-related indices (2015–2021)37 37. AKAS /Africa No Filter analysis of 21 business indices, 2021 22 Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 St at e M au rit iu s M or oc co Rw an da Tu ni sia So ut h Af ric a Bo ts w an a Ke ny a Se yc he lle s Na m ib ia Eg yp t Ca pe V er de Za m bi a Gh an a To go Co te d Iv oi re Av er ag e Po sit io n 41 70 73 78 78 83 91 95 97 103 103 108 108 109 111 1 A Global FDI country attractiviness index 109 2020 47 69 68 51 71 78 80 73 79 96 83 2 Corruption Perceptions Index 180 2020 52 86 49 69 69 35 124 27 57 117 41 117 75 134 104 3 Global entrepreneurship index 137 2019 68 95 53 58 51 96 62 81 116 91 4 Global innovation index 136 2020 52 75 91 65 60 89 86 104 96 100 122 108 125 112 5 Global competitiveness index 141 2018 44 71 58 95 61 63 91 107 90 100 110 118 111 6 Financial development index 168 2018 50 67 165 101 25 97 126 77 57 82 100 149 143 121 139 7 Youth development index 171 2016 68 120 148 110 126 142 125 123 155 138 176 117 144 181 8 The Legatum prosperity index 167 2020 44 96 104 99 87 82 113 51 88 121 75 123 100 140 124 9 Technology achievement index 105 2017 75 88 78 65 80 84 103 96 10 Global talent competitiveness index 132 2020 49 100 93 79 70 71 88 73 97 90 103 87 108 11 FM Global resilience index 130 2021 54 85 66 84 48 52 92 73 104 93 95 12 Starting a business 170 2020 20 43 35 19 139 159 129 147 165 90 121 117 116 15 29 13 Dealing with construction permits (World Bank Doing Business) 176 2020 8 16 81 32 98 44 105 106 84 74 50 67 104 127 152 14 Getting electricty (World Bank Doing Business) 176 2020 28 34 59 63 114 139 70 104 76 77 154 129 79 99 141 15 Registering company (World Bank Doing Business) 176 2020 23 81 3 94 108 82 134 65 173 130 69 149 111 56 112 16 Getting credit (World Bank Doing Business) 176 2020 67 119 4 104 80 80 4 144 80 67 144 4 80 48 48 17 Protecting minority investors (World Bank Doing Business) 176 2020 18 37 114 61 13 72 1 143 88 57 170 72 72 120 120 18 Paying taxes (World Bank Doing Business) 176 2020 5 24 38 108 54 59 94 36 88 156 87 17 152 174 114 19 Trading across borders (World Bank Doing Business) 176 2020 72 58 88 90 145 55 117 98 138 171 109 155 158 131 163 20 Enforcing contracts (World Bank Doing Business) 176 2020 20 60 32 88 102 137 89 128 64 166 52 130 117 140 94 21 Resolving insolvency (World Bank Doing Business) 176 2020 28 73 62 69 68 84 50 75 127 104 168 79 161 88 85 YearNo Index Name No. of States Figure 19: African countries ranked by posi?on across 21 business-related indices (2015–2021) AKAS /Africa No Filter analysis of 21 business indices, 2021 TH E BUSI N ESS I N AFR ICA NAR RATIVE R EPORT 35 Figure 23: Mauritius is the highest-ranking African country in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index42 42. Schwab, 2019 26 Figure 23: Mauri?us is the highest-ranking African country in the World Economic Forum’s Global Compe??veness Index Schwab, 2019 X Rankings of African states globally Highest ranked out of 180 Lowest ranked out of 180 Not in rankings African countries’ rankings (out of 180 countries globally) in the Global Competitiveness Index 2019 (World Economic Forum) 36 TH E BUSI N ESS I N AFR ICA NAR RATIVE R EPORT 6.4 Frame 4: “Silencing creativity, amplifying technology” The “Silencing creativity, amplifying technology” frame shows that, while narratives about Africa’s rich technology opportunities are wide-ranging and positive, coverage of entrepreneurs and creative industries is much more limited. This is summarised in Figure 24. The African Economic Outlook – Entrepreneurship and Industrialisation Report44 stated that 22% of Africa’s working age population had started new ventures during the period 2011–2016 – the highest rate of any region globally. Despite this fact, African start-ups and creative businesses receive little media coverage, although the coverage they do attract tends to be positive. These types of frames have the benefit of appealing to younger audiences, who represent the bulk of African publics, as well as to women, who have high levels of employment in cultural and creative industries.45 The role of government, policy and regulations is critical, but the coverage may contain an overemphasis on these public sector aspects at the expense of private sector entrepreneurs with powerful backstories.46 One area where the level of coverage is both high and positive is in stories covering technology, science and innovation. As Sangu Delle has argued, “Technology and globalisation are transforming the African continent and are equipping young entrepreneurs with tools to build enterprises that could not have been possible decades ago”.47 The following trends and insights illustrate how mentions relating to technology and innovation have grown, while mentions 43. Summary analysis carried out by AKAS in 2021 44. African Development Bank, 2017 45. Gachara, 2020 46. Delle, 2020 47. Delle, 2020 TH E BUSI N ESS I N AFR ICA NAR RATIVE R EPORT 37 relating to start-ups and creative businesses have remained more niche, despite various important narratives that could be developed around entrepreneurship and creative businesses. For example: • The “Silencing creativity, amplifying technology” frame is the only frame where the tone across both African and global media is positive (see Figures 8 and 9). • Mentions of terms related to “technology” and “innovation” in Africa and business stories in African and global media increased from 36% of all articles in 2017 to 45% in 2021 (see Figure 25). Figure 24: Summary of “Silencing creativity, amplifying technology” frame43 Figure 25: Prevalence of mentions of terms related to “start-up”, “technology/innovation” and “creative business”48 48. AKAS analysis of the prevalence of articles mentioning the terms “Africa” and “business” that also contain keywords related to “start-up”, “technology”, “innovation” and “creative business” (GDELT, 1 Jan 2021 to 30 Sept 2021), 2021 27 Figure 24: Summary of “Silencing crea?vity, amplifying technology” frame Summary analysis carried out by AKAS in 2021 Despite having more entrepreneurs than any other region, African start- ups get lijle coverage Entrepreneurs need more coverage than governments in Africa’s business coverage Entrepreneurial Technology/ innova?on Technology and Innova?on is a posi?ve and significant exis?ng narra?ve for Africa African and interna?onal media are united: tech and innova?on are key for Africa and business Crea?ve business Crea?ve business ar?cles get the most posi?ve coverage More crea?ve business coverage needed “Silencing crea?vity, amplifying technology” 28 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% Jan-17 Jan-18 Jan-19 Jan-20 Jan-21 Prevalence of terms related to "start-up", "technology", "innova?on" and "crea?ve business" (African & non-African media, 7-day moving average, Jan 17–Sep 21) Start-up related CreaYve business Technology/ innovaYon Figure 25: Prevalence of men?ons of terms related to “start-up”, “technology/innova?on” and “crea?ve business” (Jan 2017 to Sept 2021) AKAS analysis of the prevalence of arYcles menYoning the terms “Africa” and “business” that also contain keywords related to “start-up”, “technology”, “innovaYon” and “creaYve business” (GDELT, 1 Jan 2021 to 30 Sept 2021), 2021 40 TH E BUSI N ESS I N AFR ICA NAR RATIVE R EPORT Figure 27: Summary of “Where are the youth and the women?” frame53 53. Summary analysis carried out by AKAS in 2021 54. Asiamah et al., 2021a 55. Ichikowitz Family Foundation, 2020 56. Asiamah et al., 2021a In addition, while African media articles referencing young people generally have a positive tone, those from outside Africa have a more negative tone (see Figures 8 and 9). This may be because these international stories focus on the undoubted challenges young people face. For example, Afrobarometer, which surveyed 18 countries between 2019 and early 2020 found that young Africans were more likely to be out of work than their counterparts elsewhere in the world (34% of those under 35) and only 27% of young Africans felt that their government was providing for the needs of young people.54 Meanwhile, the Ichikowitz Family Foundation’s African Youth Survey 202055 set out the barriers that young people face when trying to start a new business, the most significant of which is gaining access to capital (see Figure 28). The 2020 African news media content analysis of 85 African business-related stories identified the almost total absence of young people’s voices in coverage: in only two of these stories was a young person quoted. Interestingly, the Afrobarometer survey also found that 54% of Africans considered the “wisdom of elders” to be more important than “the fresh ideas of young people”.56 This finding points to a societal danger of marginalising the voices of young people, even though they constitute the majority of the population across Africa. Figure 29 shows the decline in attention being given to the youth perspective. The narrative around gender equality and women’s concerns represents an even more challenging situation. In articles mentioning Africa and business, the proportion touching on gender equality issues has declined between 2017 and 2021 (see Appendix 1), falling from an average of 1.7% to 1.1% (see Figure 30). The heartening finding from an African media perspective was that African media were more likely than international media to cover gender equality issues in their business-related stories (see Figures 8, 9 and 27). Figure 28: Barriers to young people starting a business55 30 Figure 27: Summary of “Where are the youth and the women?” frame Summary analysis carried out by AKAS in 2021 Gender equality Youth “Where are the youth and the women?” Is Africa’s youth a business opportunity? “No” says the world Why does the youth dividend get so lijle ajen?on in Africa and Business stories? Africa is ahead in the coverage of gender equality in business The gender equality dimension of business in Africa has marginal coverage 31 Figure 28: Barriers to young people star?ng a business 53% 11% 10% 10% 6% 6% Access to capital Government regula?on Development funding Corrup?on Training and educa?on Economic uncertainty TH E BUSI N ESS I N AFR ICA NAR RATIVE R EPORT 41 Figure 29: Prevalence of mentions of terms related to “youth”57 The 2020 African news media content analysis of 85 African media stories referencing issues related to business and economics corroborated the marginalisation of women in this coverage, revealing that women represented only 29% of the protagonists in the stories and 12% of the experts or sources used. From an academic research perspective, mentions of gender equality as a percentage of all research referencing Africa and business dropped from 15% in 2020 to 12% in 2021. However, the longer-term trends are healthier; in 2010 the proportion was only 3%. Figure 30: Prevalence of mentions of terms related to “gender equality”58 57. Analysis carried out by AKAS in 2021 58. Analysis carried out by AKAS in 2021 32 Figure 29: Prevalence of men?ons of terms related to “youth” (Jan 2017 to Sept 2021) Analysis carried out by AKAS in 2021 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% Ja n- 17 Ap r- 17 Ju l-1 7 O ct -1 7 Ja n- 18 Ap r- 18 Ju l-1 8 O ct -1 8 Ja n- 19 Ap r- 19 Ju l-1 9 O ct -1 9 Ja n- 20 Ap r- 20 Ju l-2 0 O ct -2 0 Ja n- 21 Ap r- 21 Ju l-2 1 Prevalence of youth men?ons (African & non-African Media, 7-day moving average, Jan 17–Sep 21) 33 Figure 30: Prevalence of men?ons of terms related to “gender equality” (Jan 2017 to Sept 2021) Analysis carried out by AKAS in 2021 0% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6% Ja n- 17 Ap r- 17 Ju l-1 7 O ct -1 7 Ja n- 18 Ap r- 18 Ju l-1 8 O ct -1 8 Ja n- 19 Ap r- 19 Ju l-1 9 O ct -1 9 Ja n- 20 Ap r- 20 Ju l-2 0 O ct -2 0 Ja n- 21 Ap r- 21 Ju l-2 1 Prevalence of gender equality-related men?ons (African & non-African Media, 7-day moving average, Jan 17–Sep 21) 42 TH E BUSI N ESS I N AFR ICA NAR RATIVE R EPORT 6.6 Frame 6: “Government everywhere” A joint report by the African Union Commission and the OECD Development Centre59 found that “government action is key to overcoming challenges related to growth, jobs and inequalities”. This may explain in part why government, policy and regulation references are prevalent in approximately half of “Africa” and “business” stories both inside and outside Africa, as set out in Figure 31. Although the prevalence of the “Government everywhere” frame has declined slightly from 57% of all articles that mention “Africa” and “business” in 2017 to 54.5% in 2021 (see Appendix 1), it is noteworthy that in both African and non-African media it is a common frame in most articles. In addition, as Appendix 2 shows, articles containing “Government everywhere” keywords have consistently shown a negative sentiment in the years between 2017 and 2021. Given the close relationship between governments and their policies and day-to-day politics, it is hardly surprising that this frame should be so large. However, in the context of business, it is questionable whether business in Africa frames and stories should have such a government bias, considering the much lower coverage of entrepreneurialism (see Figure 32). 59. AUC/OECD, 2018 TH E BUSI N ESS I N AFR ICA NAR RATIVE R EPORT 45 This lack of visibility means that consumers, entrepreneurs, and businesses are not fully aware of what the AfCFTA is. Multiple surveys have demonstrated this lack of awareness: in Ghana in 2020, only 26% of firms were aware of the AfCFTA agreement66; in Nigeria in 2020, awareness of AfCFTA amongst micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises was as low as 3% in the agricultural sector and 7% in the services sector, rising to 36% in manufacturing67; and among the East African private sector community, only 14% were fully aware or had a high level of awareness of AfCFTA.68 With this low level of awareness and understanding, consumers, entrepreneurs and businesses are unable to take part in the debate on how the AfCFTA should develop. Opinions on this matter are also divided: when given the choice between open trade and protecting local producers, the African publics are split, revealing a wide variation between African countries. On average, 49% back open trade and 47% support protecting local producers.69 Past experiences of free trade agreements around the world point to the dangers of not engaging the public, especially when there are differing views on open trade, as is the case in Africa. Evidence from the 2021 key influencers content analysis points to the importance of the African Union and the African Development Bank in the discussion about the AfCFTA.70 It is also noteworthy that discussions in international media about FDI and Africa appear to be limited, which does not bode well if African countries have an aspiration to increase FDI inflows. The following factors highlight the gap between the potentially large impact the AfCFTA could have and the limited coverage it receives from storytellers. 65. Summary analysis of AKAS in 2021 66. GhanaWeb, 2020 67. Madden, 2021 68. UNECA, 2021a 69. Appiah-Nyamekye Sanny and Patel, 2021 70. AKAS content analysis, using Google’s site search of key influencers’ websites (35 pan-African and international business and general news media, 10 international and regional institutions, 7 consultancies, 15 African business schools and 12 leading African think tanks) found that “African Continental Free Trade Area” was mentioned 425 times by the African Union and 138 times by the African Development Bank between January 2021 and November 2021. Only mentions in All Africa (444) were higher among the institutions tracked. Figure 33: Summary of “Missing free trade area and investment” frame65 36 Figure 33: Summary of “Missing free trade area and investment” frame Summary analysis of AKAS in 2021 African Con?nental Free Trade Area Foreign direct investment “Missing free trade area and investment” AfCFTA is in danger of being a silent revolu?on AfCFTA’s communica?on void could be filled by detractors Many African businesses unaware of the new Free Trade Area Investment opportuni?es in Africa underplayed FDI receives lijle ajen?on in Africa and business ar?cles 46 TH E BUSI N ESS I N AFR ICA NAR RATIVE R EPORT Impact • Africa has the world’s largest free trade area by number of countries.71 • The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) estimated that the AfCFTA agreement would boost intra- African trade by 52%, by 2022.72 • UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) data shows that in 2019 the share of intra-regional trade as a proportion of total trade was comparatively low in Africa (14%), compared to North America, Latin America and the Caribbean (15%), Eastern and South-Eastern Asia (32%), and Europe (66%).73 • “Foreign direct investment (FDI) to Africa declined by 16% in 2020, to $40 billion, as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to have a persistent and multifaceted negative impact on cross-border investment globally and regionally. The decline in Africa, higher than the decline in the developing-country average, came on top of an existing stagnant trend, with FDI on the continent having remained almost unchanged in 2019 compared to 2018”.74 Coverage • Mentions of AfCFTA in Africa and business stories remain under 1%. They have only grown marginally across African and global media, from 0.3% in 2018 to 0.7% in 2021 (see Appendix 1). • The AfCFTA sub-frame is the smallest of the frames (see Appendix 1). • Mentions of AfCFTA in Africa and business stories in international media are non- existent (see Figures 8 and 9). • Mentions of FDI in Africa and business stories have fallen from a low level at 3.2% in 2017 to an even lower 1.9% in 2021 (see Appendix 1). • The 2021 key influencers content analysis found that international institutions (1.5%) and think tanks (2.7%) had the highest proportion of content that mentioned the AfCFTA, while international media (0.01%), consultancies (0.01%) and African business schools (0.65%) had a lower proportion. 71. Thomas, 2022 72 Witschge, 2018 73. Tröster and Janecková, 2021 74. UNCTAD, 2021 TH E BUSI N ESS I N AFR ICA NAR RATIVE R EPORT 47 7. Other frames not examined This report has focused on opportunities to reshape and challenge media’s use of seven frames related to business in Africa. However, there are other frames that have not been highlighted but are still worthy of note. These include: 1. COVID-19: By the first quarter of 2021, COVID or coronavirus was still being mentioned in nearly half of all “Africa” and “business” articles, down from an earlier peak of 70% in African media. During 2020 and 2021 this framing was clearly very significant for “business” and “Africa” stories. What is less clear is whether this framing will continue to play a significant part in business narratives in the long term. 2. Primary, secondary and tertiary sectors: Mentions of farming, agriculture, fishing, mining and commodities have tended to remain stable since 2017, appearing in about 30% of stories. Similarly, references to services have also hovered around the 30% mark. It is notable, however, that while mentions of terms related to “manufacturing” and “factory” have stayed stable in African media, at around 10%, among international media these terms have increased: in 2017 they featured in around 20% of business in Africa articles, and in the first part of 2021 they featured in around 40% of articles. This international focus may be due to the prevalent discussions about the industrialisation of Africa.75 3. Employment, jobs and skills: In African media, references to employment, unemployment, jobs, skills or training consistently appear in 40% of stories. In international media, these references have declined over time to now match the African media levels. The high level of coverage of this area in African media is understandable, given that media leaders from 77 developing and emerging countries (mostly from Africa) ranked job creation and employment as third out of 23 development priorities between 2015 and 2019.76 4. Infrastructure, electricity, road and rail: References to infrastructure-related terms have tended to stay stable at around 20% of all “Africa” and “business” stories. 5. Funding and lending: References to funding and lending have appeared in 10–20% of stories in African and international media. 6. Banking and financial services: Mentions of banking and financial services have hovered in the range of 10–15%. 75. African Development Bank, 2020 76. The World Bank Group, 2015–2019 50 TH E BUSI N ESS I N AFR ICA NAR RATIVE R EPORT 9. Creating a more balanced narrative about business in Africa If you are a storyteller, journalist, academic, think tank, business school, consultant, researcher or communicator for a stakeholder organisation such as an international institution, regional institution or NGO, ask yourself the following 21 questions before developing your opinions about business in Africa: Negative frames 1. Have you balanced any negative frames about business issues with legitimate positive frames? What are the other sides of the negative story? 2. Does your underlying narrative essentially highlight Africa’s poverty-dominated recent past or the potential for its future prosperity? 3. Have you referenced any of the positive business opportunities and trends set out in Section 8 above? Exploring a wider range of sectors 4. Are you covering the full range of business sectors – beyond technology, finance, agriculture, mining and commodities? 5. How much attention are you giving to the creative and cultural industries, including television, film, art, fashion, music, architecture, gaming and design? Volume of coverage 6. Could you be covering or researching more business stories about Africa? Taking an Africa-centric approach 7. Are you routinely seeing Africa’s business opportunities and challenges through the lenses of other players, in particular the USA, China and Russia? 8. Have you avoided making sweeping generalisations about Africa that are not relevant to all African countries? 9. Have you put the African continent, African countries or African people at the centre of your story or do your own interests or those of your own non-African country come first? 10. Have you used African sources in your story? Have you included voices of African people on the ground? 11. Have you used experts from African think tanks and academic institutions? 12. When searching for inspiration and sources do you turn to international sources, or do you use African sources? 13. When highlighting private sector companies, especially in the tech and start- up spaces, do you showcase international brands or local African brands? Broadening the range of African countries covered 14. Do you routinely use South Africa and Nigeria as your African country examples? 15. How much attention do you give to smaller African states such as Mauritius, Botswana and Namibia, which have a strong business story to tell? Women’s and young people’s perspectives 16. Is the youth perspective (the leaders, consumers and citizens of the future) given enough space? 17. Has the role of women been given appropriate attention? 18. Across your body of work, how many of your protagonists, subjects and sources are women? Shifting the emphasis from the state towards start-ups 19. What attention do you give to the frequently remarkable stories of African entrepreneurs who are succeeding against the odds? 20. Are you too focused on state/government actors at the expense of others? The African Continental Free Trade Area 21. How much attention have you given to the African Continental Free Trade Area, which many leading commentators consider to be the most important economic development in Africa in recent years? 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Retrieved from: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/09/africa-just-launched-the- world-s-largest-free-trade-area/ TH E BUSI N ESS I N AFR ICA NAR RATIVE R EPORT 55 APPENDIX 1: Prevalence of each sub-frame (Jan 2017 to Sep 2021)113 Percentage of “Africa” and “business” articles that have one of the 15 sub-frames 113. Analysis carried out by AKAS in 2021 38 Nega?ve coverage: Interna?onal media Nega?ve coverage – African media Corrup?on Foreign power Larger state dominance Crowded-out smaller states Entrepreneurial Crea?ve business Technology/Innova?on Youth Gender equality Government/Policy/ Regula?on Africa Con?nental Free Trade Area FDI 2017 2018 2019 2020 39,2 35,5 30,6 52,3 34,8 30,8 20,8 21,9 49,8 24,0 10,5 9,9 8,3 6,6 5,8 54,8 57,1 58,0 68,1 69,8 57,0 55,9 53,3 57,9 54,5 4,0 4,1 3,5 2,8 3,1 10,9 11,3 11,7 9,1 8,6 1,0 0,9 0,9 0,9 0,9 35,7 37,1 39,5 41,3 45,2 12,5 12,4 11,7 8,5 8,1 1,7 1,5 1,5 1,0 1,1 35,7 37,2 37,8 45,9 49,8 0,0 0,3 0,6 0,5 0,7 3,2 3,6 3,7 2,1 1,9 2021 (YTD to Sep 21) 56 TH E BUSI N ESS I N AFR ICA NAR RATIVE R EPORT APPENDIX 2: Tone of each sub-frame (Jan 2017 to Sep 2021)114 Positive (green) and negative (red) tone of articles in each of the 15 sub-frames 114. Analysis carried out by AKAS in 2021 40 Average tone: Interna?onal media Average tone – African media 2017 2018 2019 2020 AfCFTA Crea?ve Business Entrepreneurial Technology/Innova?on FDI Youth Gender equality Smaller states Foreign power Larger state dominance Government/Policy/ Regula?on Corrup?on 0,1 0,1 0,0 0,8 0,4 0,2 0,3 0,5 0,3 0,2 2,4 1,9 1,9 1,5 1,9 1,6 1,4 1,5 0,7 1,6 1,1 1,1 1,3 0,7 1,2 1,0 1,0 1,1 0,4 0,8 0,3 0,6 0,3 0,1 0,5 0,4 0,5 0,4 0,0 0,2 0,1 0,3 0,3 0,1 0,5 0,4 0,5 0,2 0,7 0,1 0,1 0,0 0,0 0,9 0,2 0,1 0,0 0,1 0,7 0,5 0,3 0,2 0,2 1,1 0,5 1,7 1,8 1,9 2,0 2,3 2021 (YTD to Sep 21)