Advertising and Transformation: Is it Worth Celebrating Yet?

Africa is rich in minerals, heritage, culture, creativity, art, natural beauty and many more things. There is a wave of celebrating Africa, the value of Africa and what we bring to the table is being recognised globally.

Investment in Africa is the prevalent talk in Western business circles, and some of the world’s leading emerging markets are in Africa.

However, also stands out for Africa’s dark past of discrimination, human rights abuses of all kinds and the ever-present weight of colonialism and systemic racism.

The lived experience of Africans is still overshadowed by this. The way wealth is distributed is still affected by this. The all industry works are still affected by this. Access to resources is still affected by this. So, advertising cannot not be affected by this.


What is the impact of this lack of transformation on those operating businesses within the Advertising value chain? We will look at this from a Media Ad sales perspective, from a Creative Agency perspective and with a multi-national brand perspective. No holds will be barred as we start this conversation at AWAfrica and plan to build on it every year until we see African creativity benefitting Africans and reinvesting in growing African creativity.