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Lovemore Chikova in Beijing

Most Africans know China from the eyes of the Western media lenses, inasmuch as the Chinese know Africa from the same source. This has had an effect on the attitude of the people and sometimes hinders smooth progress in furthering Sino-Africa relations.

Cooperation in the media between China and African countries is a fairly recent development, but the scrutiny it is already attracting is monumental.

Volumes of articles are being churned out by pundits from various parts of the world about this cooperation and what it entails.

Some of the opinions have been helpful in modelling the collaboration, while others seek to destroy it, completely.

But it has become clear that most of the pundits, especially those from Western countries, are unsettled by this kind of relationship.

The strand that runs through their opinions is that China is attempting to “colonise” Africa through use of the media.

Perhaps their approach is being influenced by their own experiences, especially how Western media has successfully been used as a tool to help fashion the African’s mind.

Not only has Western media been used as a mental colonisation tool in Africa, it has also been instrumental in bringing strange lifestyles and ideas to the continent.

There is genuine fear from some in the West that a strong bond between Chinese and African media will pose a great challenge to the dominance of Western media on the continent.

Let us face it – the undeniable fact is that Western media has not been fair in its reportage of both Africa and China.

The two sides have been victims of Western media propaganda to such an extent that many people’s opinions, as gleaned from such outlets, give a totally different picture.

Despite all its abundant natural resources and human capital, Western media take pleasure in portraying Africa as a “hopeless” continent.

On the other hand, Western media like to play up China’s perceived weaknesses, while ignoring the colossal successes in its industrialisation and the uplifting of its populace from poverty.

Most Africans know China from the eyes of the Western media lenses, inasmuch as the Chinese know Africa from the same source.

This has had an effect on the attitude of the people and sometimes hinders smooth progress in furthering Sino-Africa relations.

The reality, which must be accepted, is that the Western media will never change its stance on the portrayal of both China and Africa.

China is investing massively in Africa, with President Xi Jinping having set aside $60 billion at the Forum for China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit in South Africa last year for the industrilisation of the continent.

The paradox is that this huge sum is going to be invested in communities which hold a negative view of China because of what they watch on TV and read in newspapers.

Is it not time that China-Africa media cooperation is taken to a higher level?

Well, this was the background to the 3rd Forum on China-Africa Media Cooperation held here last week.

The forum was attended by more than 300 delegates from 44 African countries and several of their counterparts from China.

Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Minister Christopher Mushohwe was among several government ministers from African countries who attended the forum.

The purpose was to deepen Sino-Africa media cooperation to help boost the development of relations between the two sides.

It was clear from discussions at the forum that there is a lot that China and Africa can learn from each other in the media industry.

But more importantly, the general observation was that China-Africa media cooperation is not moving as fast as stakeholders would want.

Comparisons were made between the fast pace in economic cooperation between China and Africa and the “slow” pace in media cooperation.

Like I have alluded to above, the world is now characterised by a lopsided media power system.

Media from “powerful” countries tend to propagate prejudice, misunderstandings and stereotypes about “weak” nations.

This makes it an urgent matter for developing countries, led by China of course, to find ways of countering this unfair status quo.

China has been capacitating the media in Africa through various means and what is needed is to take this noble gesture a step further.

Several African journalists have been granted an opportunity to come to China for further training, familiarisation tours and furthering their education.

The Asian country has since established the China-Africa Press Centre which takes journalists from Africa to stay and work in China for 10 months each year.

The project is in its second year, with 28 African journalists from 27 countries taking part.

China has also been helping capacitate various media houses in African countries with the provision of the latest technologies.

The other advantage is that China’s media presence is already being felt in many African countries.

In Zimbabwe, for example, the Asian country’s news agency, Xinhua, has a full bureau employing Zimbabwean journalists.

News from the internationally respected news agency feature prominently in African media on a daily basis.

And for some time now, China Radio International has been riding the African air waves and has been sending at least two correspondents to Zimbabwe at a time.

CCTV’s presence is felt in many African countries where it has either full bureaus or freelance journalists.

China Daily, the largest Chinese newspaper in English, has since established a weekly version for Africa called Africa Weekly.

All this provides a basis for the two sides to come up with a mega media strategy that can squarely challenge the propaganda being churned out by the Western media.

While this presence of Chinese media in Africa is most welcome, it is also important that efforts are made to ensure African media open bureaux in China.

This will ensure that Africans tell the story of China from their experiences in the country, inasmuch as the Chinese are already telling the story of Africa from Africa.

Perhaps this explains why Minister Mushohwe received a standing ovation after delivering his speech at the China-Africa Media Cooperation.

“ . . . we should begin to see increased African media presence in China so that they tell the Chinese story to the African people.

“Such a development would help African communities better understand Chinese culture and the work ethics of the Chinese African enterprises that are increasingly establishing and operating on the African continent.”

It is clear that the Chinese media is much more visible in Africa now, but the visibility of African media in China is minimal.

Yet the need to challenge the narrative of both China and Africa as presented by Western media is much more critical now than at any other time.

And this could be the opportunity for China and Africa to start thinking seriously on effective ways of countering Western propaganda.

The Forum on China-Africa Media Cooperation is an appropriate platform for the formulation of such a grand strategy.