Nairobi — Following are remarks presented at the launch of the "Reporting Development Network Africa" during a reception at the Sienna Hotel prior to the opening of the Pan African Media Conference 2010.
Thank you Professor Fackson Banda and Chris Kabwato of Rhodes University. Thank you to the Nation Media Group. And thank you to all of those who have gathered from across the continent to focus on the important role of media in Africa’s future.
It’s an honor to be here tonight. I began my career as a journalist. In fact, my first job was as an intern for Africa News Service, which we all know now as allAfrica.com. I had just returned from a year in Senegal and my memory of the small office building in Durham, North Carolina was of clipping and filing articles while trying to read them as quickly as I could.
While my career has taken different turns, my passion about the role of media in driving change has never wavered. In fact, it’s stronger than ever. I’m thrilled to be among this distinguished group and excited about the conversations we’ll have over the next two days.
Tonight, I want to tell you a little bit about the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and explain why we believe media has such an important role to play in driving progress on the continent.
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Bill and Melinda Gates started their foundation more than a decade ago because they believe that every person should have the chance to live a healthy and productive life. The foundation focuses on a limited set of issues. Big, tough challenges that we believe present the biggest barriers to that goal. Many of you are already familiar with our health work, much of which is focused on Africa. For more than a decade, we have been working with partners to harness advances in science and technology to save lives. Vaccines are our number one priority. And we focus on long-term solutions to the biggest, most neglected problems, particularly in infectious diseases and family health.
In 2006, we launched a new program focused on helping people overcome hunger and poverty. The goal is large-scale, lasting change. Most of this work is focused in Africa. Our partners include a broad range of organizations from the public and private sectors. We are listening and learning to voices from across the continent, measuring impact and adjusting our strategy as we learn from our partners.
Our largest investment in this program is focused on agricultural development. Our partners agree: African smallholder farmers hold one of the keys to drive the continent’s economic growth. We are also focusing on using technology and innovation to increase access to financial services, especially safe places to save. And our newest strategy in this program is focused on increasing access to sanitation.
We know that large-scale, lasting progress against these huge challenges will take attention and commitment from all corners and across all sectors. That’s why we are also working hard to raise awareness of these issues. We want to help identify and promote powerful policies and solutions and advocate for more—and more effective—investments.
This gathering presents a remarkable opportunity: Those responsible for most of the media coverage on the continent are here and have gathered to talk about the role media plays in building a stronger Africa.
We believe that a vibrant, sustainable, professional media that produces high-quality, thoughtful coverage of key health and development issues will help drive Africa’s progress. I believe to some extent we’re all here because we believe that to be true.
Progress is not only possible, it’s already happening. We are seeing stronger African leadership, a better business climate, market-based solutions and growing evidence of real progress and momentum. Look right here in Kenya, for example, at M-Pesa’s phone based money transfers now used by 9 million people. Or the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa’s success in training thousands of agro-dealers and releasing new 68 new varieties of improved seeds. Or the farmers in Tanzania who have already seen 30 percent increases in their maize yields.
Unfortunately, these kinds of uplifting, compelling stories about African progress aren’t being told often enough. Gloom and doom and controversy still rule when it comes to coverage of development. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
The media has a key role in picking up on these positive themes, driving discussions and reframing the conversation to make room for coverage of what’s working – and why. What kind of partnerships and investments are proving effective? Can they be replicated in other places? Can they be expanded to reach many millions more people?
The foundation is supporting investments like the African Media Initiative and the reporting Development Network Africa (rDNA) because we believe top-notch journalism makes a difference—in policy discussions, in engaging Africans about issues that directly affect their lives, and, ultimately, in addressing the problems themselves.
Rhodes University is a leader in journalism – particularly new media. The success of Highway Africa in building a community of hundreds of journalists is awe-inspiring. We believe Chris Kabwato and his partners have a tremendous opportunity to foster more and better coverage of development issues through this powerful network of engaged and passionate journalists.
Last year, Bill Gates gave a speech called the “Impatient Optimist.” We like that phrase a lot at the foundation. We’re optimistic that the world’s biggest challenges can be solved. But at the same time, we’re impatient – as I know many of you are as well.
There’s urgency for all of us to come together – to harness the power of innovation and strong partnerships and solve these problems now. I believe it’s possible. And I believe all of us have a role to play in making that happen. Thank you for being here and for being a part of the solution.
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