CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Sep 29 — African media leaders are calling for greater collaboration, stronger ownership of African intellectual property and new approaches to monetisation as artificial intelligence and changing audience behaviour reshape the continent’s media industry.

📻 Breaking It Down

The call was made at Bloomberg’s 2026 Africa Business Media Innovators (ABMI) convening in Cape Town, which brought together journalists, media executives, creators and global partners to discuss how African media can convert its growing reach and influence into sustainable economic value.

The 10th edition of the convening focused on the future of an industry facing simultaneous pressures from changing audience habits, evolving revenue models and the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence.

For media markets across East Africa, discussions centred on how newsrooms can build sustainable digital businesses, how publishers and creators can retain more value from African content, and how AI can be adopted without compromising editorial integrity, trust and accountability.

📌 What You Need to Know

Participants identified three broad priorities for the sector: turning the reach of African creative content into sustainable revenue, strengthening African ownership of intellectual property and cultural narratives, and harnessing AI responsibly while protecting independent journalism.

South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Mondli Gungubele, said digitisation was creating an opportunity for African voices to reach global audiences directly.

“Africa has been reported on by other people, but the digital age gives this continent something extraordinary. The ability to speak to the world without asking anybody for permission,” Gungubele said.

He said the ability for African ideas to reach global audiences without first seeking external validation represented a significant shift.

The discussions come against a backdrop of economic growth across the continent. Bloomberg data presented at the convening showed that growth in sub-Saharan Africa has accelerated since 2025 beyond that of emerging markets and developing economies combined.

Participants argued that African media should form part of this wider growth story, with sustainable and trusted journalism contributing to reliable information, accountability and informed economic decision-making.

📰 Source: Capital FM Kenya