Africa is not a country. It is an apparently obvious phrase, yet always necessary. Because too often, when in Italy we talk about Africa, we give in to the temptation to compress it in a single narrative: poor, migrant, desperate. In reality, Africa is a continent. Fifty -four states, over 1.4 billion people, a multiplicity of cultures, religions, languages, economies. And above all stories. Many. Different. Often invisible. And not for lack of beauty or value, but for lack of space. In our eyes. And in our media.
It is precisely from here that the reflection of Africa Day starts, the international day of Africa that is celebrated on May 25th. But Amref Health Africa-Italy For years he has decided not to be satisfied with a single day. Invented the Africa Daysa whole month of appointments to “hear the heartbeat of Africa”, as President Paola Crestani says, and to break the curtain of indifference. This year the heart of the program is the relationship “Mediated Africa”in its sixth edition, presented in Rome last May 20: an relentless radiography of the way newspapers, news and TV programs tell the African continent. Or, more often, they don’t tell it at all.
Africa here or Africa there?
The dossier, curated by the Pavia Observatory, crosses quantitative and qualitative data. Starting from First pages of national newspapers: compared to 2023, in 2024 there was a drop of 50% of the news with reference to Africa. Of these, over three quarters (77.3%) are set herein Italy or in other Western countries. It is the “Africa here”: that of the Mattei Plan, of the Afrodiscendent athletes to the Olympics, the Algerian boxing Khelif. The “Africa there” – that is, news actually set in the African continent – is limited to 22.7 %%, dominated by wars and terrorism (Sudan, democratic republic of the Congo in the lead). Practically absent economics, culture, society, environment, innovation. Everything that could tell a living, plural Africa with a future.
Africa in the news: almost invisible, apart from migrations
Passing on to Prime evening newsthe tendency to marginality is confirmed: the news reported directly to Africa is just 1.2% in 2024 (it was 1.9% in 2023). But if we widen our gaze to the news on Africatherefore including the insights on the Mattei Plan and the migratory management, it reaches 4.5%: it is the highest figure in six years. But it is an increase that does not correspond to an expansion of the gaze. Rather, to a exploitation of the African continent according to the Italian and European internal debates.
TV programs and the (usual) exotic narrative
In the television schedulethe in -depth programs continue to talk about Africa through the most comfortable lenses. In the first place, the naturalistic narrative: landscapes, fauna, savannas, deserts (30%). International cooperation follow (23%) and, once again, war and terrorism (17%). Migration and poverty are treated less explicitly, but always in a filigree. Themes such as education, innovation, climate change or young African talents are rarely deepened. And when you do it, it is often virtuous exceptions rather than a structural change.
Africans on TV? Practically absent
For the first time, this year the Observatory also analyzed the presence of Africans and Afrodiscendants in television programs. Out of 587 episodes of 16 transmissions analyzed, the appearances detected are 62, equal to 1.2%. In practice: 97% of guests are Italian. When is the topics dealt with when there is an African or African subject? The female condition in Islam (32.2%), infibulation (16.1%), crime and immigration (14.5%), social unease (11.3%) are mainly. Never, not even on these occasions, we talk about Africa “there”. As if Africa could not be told, even when it is present.
Perception and reality: the distance is minimal. And this is a problem
The perception is accompanied by the representation. The IPSOS survey for Amref “Africa and Health: the opinion of Italians” conducted in September 2024 confirms that The image of Africa conveyed by the media is the same that is rooted in the minds of the Italians. The words most associated with the continent? Poverty, diseases, migration. The usual themes, declined uniform, uniform and uniformly. It is not surprising then that even when they give positive news, they remain marginal, perceived as exceptions and not as the rule.
An emblematic example: the Italian-Africa summit held in Rome in January 2024. Many Italian political voices, but very little space for the African leaders present. Even in the titles of newspapers, he insisted on alleged “cultural incompatibility”, fueling the idea of an irreducible distance between “us” and “them”. A narrative that builds borders, rather than bridges.
Tell a continent (and not a caricature)
Not everything, however, is negative. The report also reports some virtuous experiences: as a scientific and technological dissemination program that has dedicated space to innovative projects in Africa. Or the work of some more careful journalists and formats, capable of talking about the continent without selling to the clichés. But they are drops in the desert. To make the difference, systemic changes are needed, new editorial criteria, more training.
Amref and the Africa Days: beyond silence
In the heart of Milan more hectic, within the suggestive context of the steam factory, Amref Health Africa promises from 22 to 26 May the Africa Daysa festival that invites us to overcome stereotypes and silences on Africa, returning voice and centrality to the stories and experiences of its communities, inside and outside the continent (for information the events supports Each day is built around a key theme – such as health, migration, culture and participation – and develops with meetings, talk, workshops, projections and artistic performances. The opening is scheduled for Wednesday 22 May at 6 pm with the event “On the right side of the story”, a dialogue with activists and journalists engaged in the narrative of rights. Thursday 23 will talk about global health and climatic justice; Friday 24 will be the vault of culture and representation. Saturday 25, from 10 to 23, there will be workshops, DJ sets, exhibitions and activities for families, in a real day-event dedicated to Milan and its new African Italian generations. Finally, Sunday 26, space for spirituality and cultural deepening, with reflections on the inner dimension of change. All appointments are free and open to the public, with the aim of creating a living space of comparison, listening and sharing.
A bet to be done together
«The heart of our work – recalls the President Paola Crestani – It is yes to form healthcare professionals and cure millions of people, but it is also to create bridges. Africa Days are that bet of hope and future, far from fear and closure. A bet to be done together ».
A plural Africa, alive, full of stories to listen to. But before even to see. Because, as the Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe would have said, until the lions have their historians, the hunt will continue to be told from the hunter’s point of view. It is up to us today to change perspective.
