Tired of the way the West reports about Africa, a new platform is seeking to change the narrative.
African Stream is a pan-African digital media organisation, purely based on social media, that aims to provide a voice to Africans at home and abroad through African-centred content.
It was founded by Ahmed Kaballo, 34, who is also the CEO.
“Neocolonialism with the added ingredient of racism and more prevents Africa from expanding the way it needs to,” Kaballo says.
“However, we are starting to see some change, not in the attitude but pushback.”
As a startup founded in 2022, the organisation officially launched its operations early this year, Kenya being its main hub in Africa.
Kaballo is a graduate of the University of Manchester with a master’s degree in international relations and politics.
He holds a BA honours degree from the same university in applied youth and community studies.
Having served in the UK with more than six years of journalistic experience, reporting for more than 23 cities in 15 countries, Kaballo made a decision to relocate to Africa.
“When I was in the UK, whenever we used to cover Africa, the stories were always about war, conflict or famine and the like,” Kaballo said.
“Every time I pitched a different story idea about Africa, I was always told that the story is not good enough. It was frustrating to see Africa under-reported and misreported as well.”
Kaballo then decided to set up his own media organisation that was focused on telling the African story the African way.
He did this with the help of Erick Gavala who is the startup’s operation manager.
The Star’s Melinda Kirwa spoke to Kaballo and Gavala on the establishment of their organisation, their mission, and intent as well as their take on Africa’s storytelling.
When I was in the UK, whenever we used to cover Africa, the stories were always about war, conflict or famine and the like. Every time I pitched a different story idea about Africa, I was always told that the story is not good enough
Who is Ahmed Kaballo?
Kaballo: I like to describe myself as a Sudanese national born in the UK.
I am also a father, a husband, and a passionate journalist who is determined to see Africa represented properly, not only on the global stage but also in Africa.
Both of my Sudanese parents relocated to the UK. My father was the first one to move for his PhD education, but later on became a refugee due to political reasons.
I was born in the UK but the plan was never to stay in the UK.
Due to certain reasons, as a family, we never went back to Sudan.
If we did, then that meant my dad being detained.
The 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement in Sudan saw my father going back, and since then, he has been detained three times, although it is not really safe for him.
My siblings and I were raised in the UK, but Africa has always been in my heart.
For my education, I initially studied youth and community studies, after which I immediately realised I was more interested in international relations and politics.
After my studies, I went to live in Ghana for seven months, three months in Myanmar and then I settled back in London.
I worked as a youth worker and made media appearances before I finally decided that I want to become a journalist.
Why African Stream and why Kenya?
I have worked as a journalist for many years and have always had an interest in Africa.
While in university, I used to write a lot of essays about Africa.
When I became a journalist, my seniors would tell me, "These stories are not good enough. We need to focus on more hot regions like Europe, the Middle East and North America."
To start African Stream, one of my colleagues who had launched his own firm that focused on highlighting stories from the Islamic community inspired me.
I saw that it could be done and when the opportunity was presented to me, I took it with both hands.
Kenya is a fantastic country to live in, and from a professional perspective, there is a huge pool of talent here.
When I was doing my master's, I met a number of Kenyans and when I interacted with them, I was impressed.
When we advertised jobs for African Stream, we didn’t make it Kenyan-specific but across Africa.
Funny enough, a lot of applications we received were from talented Kenyan journalists.
The infrastructure here is well-developed as well.
It was a debate about setting up shop in Ghana or Kenya, but we settled with the latter and found the region very desirable.
We are, however, looking to have African Stream Swahili, but before that, to open up a Francophone bureau that will cater for our now growing French-speaking audience.
How many African journalists do you currently have on board, and how do you source for talent?
In the Kenyan office, we currently have 11 reporters.
We also have stringers in Burkina Faso, Congo, Egypt, Haiti, Mali, Nigeria, a Tanzanian based in the US, a Cameroonian based in Spain and an Ivorian in the US.
We are looking to expand so that we have journalists in every region of the continent as well as in the diaspora.
We vet our journalists through an intense process. They send a CV, cover letter as well as references, and thereafter, we give them an assignment that they submit.
If it’s not what we want, we ask them to redo it.
Those who get the job still go through hands-on field exposure to make sure that they deliver quality stories and ones that are fact-checked.
We strive to ensure we produce evergreen stories, which are not time-sensitive but still important.
We cover long-term as well as short-term immediate stories.
What is the African Stream ideology that drives your organisation?
We are pan-African anti-imperialists, and we write our story through these lenses.
We always try to cover the big stories in Africa as well as stories that are purposely missed out by the mainstream media.
We are anti-imperialists because we still believe that although there is corruption and mismanagement of resources in Africa, these are not the overwhelming causes of Africa’s issues.
We highlight the neocolonial relations that originated from the colonial era and are persistent in the modern day.
We are seeing that African countries are no longer interested in exporting their raw resources. Former colonial powers want these.
They still see us in that map of this region is the gold coast, this is the ivory coast, slave coast, basically viewing Africa as a place for commodities to be extracted. It is upon us to change the narrative.
We need to amend those relationships and be like, "If you want cocoa, let us make the chocolates. If you need lithium, let’s produce some electric cars.
The latest examples include Nigeria with regards to Lithium to Tesla, Zimbabwe as well, and Ghana with regards to cocoa.
We are starting to see an attempt to redefine those economic relationships and make sure it is not only the commodities that are exported but the goods and services provided here on the ground.
What makes you different?
Gavala: We consider ourselves a one-stop shop of everything African.
Our audience mainly comes to us when they want geopolitical stories. This is where we have a huge interest.
We also diversify our content to culture, women-centred issues, entertainment and sports.
We strive to make sure people who visit our platforms end up getting educated away from the specific topic they were looking for.
We have an audience that wants to see news stories represented from a different angle, and we believe we have a unique and holistic way of telling our stories.
Kaballo: When the entire media team is African, you get different story ideas and connect.
Who is the person telling the story?
He not only just has a black face but also has an African perspective and an African mindset, as if we are talking about people who are part of the African family.
Even outside Africa, we see a lot of similarities with our own based outside the continent.
We see a disproportion of representation in the prison system, policing, affordable housing, and even violence by the state.
We aim to do away with the antagonistic voice that Africa is given, we want to be the protagonist.
For black lives to matter, African lives need to matter first.
The reason why Chinese people are not brutalised in the UK or the US is that they are respected. A reason why Indians don’t get brutalised is because of the same.
What is the image of Africa portrayed to the Western world, who is to blame and how is Africa contributing to this?
The image of Africa in the West has been that of a struggling continent, dark and diseased.
It is a skewed way of depicting Africa and it is the longest-running propaganda machine.
Africans are made to believe that they are not at par with the rest of the world.
Our history didn’t start with colonisation as is being depicted. Going back, Africa had powerful empires that would rival empires in the West, but it is just that this history was destroyed.
The African image has taken a beating.
African Stream wants to tell the African story from an African perspective.
We believe the African story should not be one of extractive nature but investing in Africa as a resource.
Kaballo: There exists a colonial mindset that it is the burden of the ‘white man’ to save Africa.
Africa doesn’t need help, it just needs for these Westerners to let go of the grip that attempts to keep us at a relegated status.
We need to have relationships with other entities just like other countries based on equality and not subjugation.
Amidst our tainted image, in the near future, will Africa be fully redeemed?
Kaballo: Yes. We are seeing that with information readily available in the hands of many, that has started to change.
Information is the currency and it is the gateway to dismantling and changing these relationships.
No one wants to be in a relationship where they feel like they are the ones being shafted.
Gavala: Africa has had to choose, many times, who to do business with.
They have been in boardrooms discussing deals that end up favouring the Westerners.
As the Swahili saying goes, Kila mwamba ngoma huvutia kwake. This loosely translates to when making a drum, with the hide, everyone has to pull on their end. In other words, it is all about interest.
When we export raw resources we make a small margin of profit.
This leads to the exploitation of those who are producing the raw materials.
It is about saying that we not only export our raw materials but we have the capacity and capability to produce quality goods in Africa.
What role does the media narrative play to change how Africa is viewed?
Kaballo: Sudan has more pyramids than Egypt, but nobody visits the pyramids in Sudan.
This is because they see the country as a state sponsor of terror, a war-torn country, and even famine-struck.
People will avoid investing in such a country because they think it’s not safe.
This is an example of when the story of a place is depicted in a certain way, it becomes the prevailing narrative around the world.
This affects the country’s economy.
Through the media, the narrative changes.
Reshaping the narrative is crucial to the development and investment in a country.
Everything that happens in Africa is vitally important to our self-esteem. The discrimination that we face abroad, our identity, and even our confidence.
The crucial part of the development of Africa is the media landscape and how it is portrayed.
As a pan-African media company that is leveraging social media, why not mainstream or traditional media?
Gavala: Social media is where the world is today.
It is the best and most efficient tool for us to reach millions of Africans.
Mobile phone penetration in Africa is at 60 per cent and the Internet penetration is obviously growing by the day.
People can easily get content on socials as quickly as possible compared to when we used to watch a two-hour news bulletin.
Within 60 seconds, you learn and then move on to the next thing.
It is also an effective space for Africans to engage through meaningful conversations and be part of advocating for Africa by shifting the narrative.
They also play a part in informing decisions about Africa that are affecting Africans and advocating for us as a community.
What is your audience reach?
Gavala: We have an international audience where regions like the US constitute 30 per cent of our reach.
Africa forms the biggest portion of our audience.
There has been a lot of misinformation and misrepresentation of facts, and we are trying to reach as many people and trying to change the narratives of African states.
The online reach and engagement varies from story to story.
We are currently on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
We plan to move to Telegram and WhatsApp very soon.
A lot of our content is digestible, so we are looking to set up a podcast where we get to talk amongst ourselves as Africans.
What’s next for African Stream and for anyone who wants to be part of the team, how can they go about it?
Ahmed: To join our team, contact us at [email protected]. Send a CV and a cover letter stating why you want to be part of our team and what you can offer.
We want to do more of on-the-ground reporting. We want to connect with Africans and take some of our stories that have been covered from a far to covering them on the ground.
Our audiences have met our presenters but now we want them to connect with the owners of the story.