#AfricaNoFilter Launches, A Multi-Partner Collaborative, Including the Ford Foundation, Seeking to Amplify African Voices Through Reimagining Deep-Rooted Narratives
JOHANNESBURG, Feb. 26, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- #AfricaNoFilter -- a multi-partner collaborative seeking to amplify African voices and reimagine deep-rooted narratives about the African continent – launched today with an expanding group of funding partners and the appointment of new Executive Director Moky Makura. This announcement comes as the collaborative hosts the #AfricaNoFilter 2020 Summit today in Johannesburg, where storytellers, partners, fellows and culture makers discussed how to expand the creation and dissemination of more accurate, nuanced and contextualized stories about the 55 countries in Africa today.
A continent home to 1.2 billion people, Africa boasts 3,000 different ethnic groups who speak more than 2,000 languages, and yet, the continent is often oversimplified, cast as monolithic and the African lived experience is misunderstood by communities around the world. The #AfricaNoFilter collaborative will connect leaders and accelerate the evolution and influence of more vibrant, diverse and unfiltered narratives about Africa. It will do so by supporting emerging African voices – especially young people and women – and investing in the ecosystem of organizations, individuals and partners working to disrupt existing dominant narratives about the continent.
An initial pilot of #AfricaNoFilter, including a robust Fellows program, was met with enthusiastic interest from business leaders, media innovators, storytellers, cultural institutions, artists and funders over the past few years. Now, a broad group of funders have come together with #AfricaNoFilter to expand investments in the already growing ecosystem of narrative change in Africa. Current partners include Nigeria's Access Bank and its Aspire Coronation Trust Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Ford Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Luminate, and Open Society Foundations. Many of these funding partners maintain a long standing presence on the continent with significant programmatic expertise and investments over decades in the people and communities across various regions. #AfricaNoFilter welcomes the support of new partners to expand its reach and impact in Africa, and beyond. With strategic collaboration across sectors and borders, the collaborative aims to bring this essential narrative work – current and future – to scale.
"Narratives about Africa matter because they define how the rest of the world hears our stories, how companies invest in our continent, and how the future for our next generations will be shaped," said Gbenga Oyebode, Ford Foundation board member and a key Africa No Filter advisor. "It is an honor to be a part of an initiative supporting Africans from all sectors who are telling their own stories and reshaping the way others see Africa."
The new collaborative also welcomes its new leadership and incoming Executive Director, Moky Makura. Makura joins #AfricaNoFilter from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, where she was the foundation's Country Representative to South Africa, responsible for government relations and oversight on program strategy. Previously, she was then Gates' Deputy Director for Communications Africa where she was responsible for building and managing the foundation's reputation on the continent. Before Gates, Makura was the Communications Director for The Tony Elumelu Foundation in Nigeria...