A major take away from the fourth edition of the Africa Media Festival (AMF) is that the African media industry leaders seek systemic resilience in the era of Artificial Intelligence (AI) disruptions
By Edu Abade
The fourth edition of the Africa Media Festival (AMF), which was held in February in Nairobi, Kenya, drew participants from over 200 organizations and 31 nationalities into a high-stakes dialogue on the future of African journalism and storytelling.
Coming under the theme: Resilient Storytelling: Reimagining Media Freedom, the festival has pivoted from merely diagnosing industry crises to actively wiring a sustainable foundation for a sector seemingly under siege.
As newsrooms across the continent face a perfect storm of shrinking revenues, mass retrenchments and sophisticated state-led internet shutdowns, the AMF serves as a strategic working platform for shaping the future of African media.
“We are here to facilitate the collaborations that strengthen our ecosystem, connecting creators in finding solutions to these many questions. Our priority is to ensure we move forward together so no newsroom, media house, journalist or creative has to navigate these periods alone,” Curator, Africa Media Festival, Martie Mtange stated.
To wire a sustainable future, Mtange clarified that African stories must remain rooted in local contexts, focusing on social justice, the rule of law, and decolonization of minds in how we propagate African narratives.
Organized by the Baraza Media Lab, the summit highlighted a stark new reality where AI-generated summaries are wiping out traffic-based news business models, with governments also utilizing new technologies to tighten information control.
Speakers described the tendency by African governments of clamping down on media freedom as an ‘own goal’ that destroys the essential feedback loops required for stable socio-political and economic governance.
Chairman of the Baraza Media Lab, Daniel Kalinaki, said, “We are seeing a growing restlessness among young Africans that is reshaping public discourse. To wire a sustainable future for Africa’s media, journalists must move beyond being mere participants to becoming contestants in the market economy by owning our media houses, our intellectual property, as well as homegrown AI tools.”
Organizers of the festival also argued that the next generation of African media practitioners, were challenged to move beyond being mere participants in the digital economy to becoming owners of media infrastructure as one form of defense against political capture and corporate consolidation.
In addition to integrating mental health and psychotherapeutic support as a core component of professional sustainability, speakers urged for collaborative resilience among media practitioners as opposed to taking a lone ranger approach to journalism.
“In these moments of uncertainty, we fail as media when we work in silos. By talking to each other and understanding the geopolitical superstructure, we can create systems that produce resilience in these fast-changing times instead of driving journalists toward self-censorship,” News Editor of The Continent, Christine Mungai, said.
The summit included diverse representation from legacy media, independent creators, funders and global partners such as DW Akademie, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Bloomberg, the Australian High Commission, Afripods, The African Editors Forum, RNW Media and Journalists for Human Rights (JHR), among others.
The festival ended with the inaugural Africa Media Awards, featuring the newly introduced ‘Creator for Good’ award to recognize individuals who have maintained excellence and spoken truth to power despite the prevailing economic and political headwinds across the continent
The organizers also restated that AMF 2026 is not just a convergence, but a critical backup and reflective tool for an ecosystem currently being redefined by Artificial Intelligence and shifting geopolitical power.
Founded in 2019, Baraza Media Lab is a media and creative platform that supports independent media, creators, and technologists through funding, training and collaboration. Its mission is to build a sustainable, ethical, and inclusive media ecosystem in Kenya and re-imagine the future of African media.
Baraza Media Lab is a growing community where Africa’s media and creative minds come together to create, connect and inspire.
“We create spaces where ideas are realized, relationships are strengthened, and meaningful change begins with bold conversations. Anchored in inclusion and a shared commitment to impactful storytelling, Baraza empowers media and creative practitioners to craft narratives that reflect society, challenge perspectives and ignite new possibilities across the continent and beyond,” the organizers said.
