This presentation was given at a fesmedia event in Johannesburg (30 November-1 December 2016) and looks at how there is a media deficit in Africa and issues of inequitable access to media on the continent.

2. Policy Context
 Article 19(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights – The Right To Information
“Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this
right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart
information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers,
either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or
through any other media of his choice”.
Also African Platform on Access to Information (APAI)
Campaign in its Application of Principles on Disadvantaged
Communities

3. Policy in practice
 Government, civil society and NGOs require media that can
reach all levels of society and allows them to hear responses
back from them irrespective of geographic location,
education and wealth.
 In many areas of development like education and health,
media carries messages that improve life chances and
counter myths that destroy opportunities. Changing
behavior.
 A new generation of citizen initiatives (like Mzalendo and
Follow The Money) rely on the power of media to change
the behavior of African politicians towards their citizens and
local communities.

4. Definitions and Methodology
 Media Deficit:
 1. Where a group of people have no access to media or media
devices of any kind.
 2. Those people who have relatively low access to media: for
example, they only have access to one type of media or media
device.
 Media is defined broadly and encompasses all online and offline
media, including SMS news and information services on mobile
phones.
 Methodology: Use available data irrespective of year back 3-4
years. Remarkable consistency.

5. Starting Point – Media Rich
vs Media Poor - 1Media Rich and Media Poor
33
78%
63%
27%
91%
77%
80%
87%
72%
100% 99%
58%
27%
2%
68%
21%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Radio TV Internet Mobile Phone Non-Voice
Mobile Phone
Total Media Rich Media Poor
Apart from today, when did you last watch/listen to/use [platform]? (% of respondents
using platform in the last 7 days)
Example of Nigeria

6. Starting Point – Media Rich
vs Media Poor - 2News and Current Events Gap
34
58%
67%66%
79%
35%
44%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Follow currents events about Nigeria
"somewhat" or "a lot"
Access news at least once a day
Total Media Rich Media Poor

7. Starting Point – Media Rich
vs Media Poor - 3

8. Geographic distribution
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Urban (%) Rural (%)
Mobile
Internet (once a week)
Example of Nigeria.

9. One End of the
Spectrum…South Sudan

10. The Other End of the
Spectrum – South Africa
Example Vodacom 3G coverage BUT 8 million people without electricity

11. Implied Media Deficit

12. Language, Income,
Education and Gender
Women less likely to use mobile phone or Internet.

13. Infrastructure
Overview
Absence of hard infrastructure means people receive less media
M-Kopa solar TVs – 48 cents a day payment plan

14. Players who can address
this issue - 1
 Private sector: Services to those who can afford –
addressable markets. But interest in long-term market
growth
 Media owners: No media equivalent of universal access.
Some have pioneered but most stay in urban areas.
 Government: Addressing the market gap. Universal service
taxes. Language gaps.
 Donors and Government: Focus on national infrastructure,
not so much on rural. Few countries with TV coverage
targets.

15. Players who can address
this issue - 2
 Regulators: Little or no interchange between telecoms &
media regulators about the cost effectiveness of delivering
content to schools, community viewing spaces and health
clinics
 Civil society and NGOs: Focused on media freedom and
related but much less time to thinking about who is able to
access basic news and the pattern of inequalities that exist in
media access in all African countries.
 BUT possible to imagine a policy that addresses this media
deficit