Africa should invest in narrative capital

This story has significance for readers across Kenya and beyond.

When China Media Group (CMG) Africa hosted the sixth season of "The Bond" on July 28, many saw a cultural event built around films and TV. What they may not have seen is something more significant.

Launched in 2021 by CMG in collaboration with African partners, "The Bond" showcases curated films and TV shows focusing on Chinese daily life, culture, innovations, among others. By its fifth season in August 2024, this multilingual initiative had more than 500 million viewers through collaborations with at least 40 African countries and 50 media organisations.

Imagine waking up to news that geologists have discovered a natural resource in Africa valued at more than $4 billion a year.

Governments would convene emergency meetings, investors would board the next planes and economists would suddenly become amateur geologists.

Now imagine discovering that this resource has existed all along. It isn't oil or lithium. It is narrative.

A 2024 study by Africa No Filter and Africa Practice estimated that stereotypical portrayals of Africa in international media cost the continent $4.2 billion annually through higher borrowing costs.

Investors and lenders respond to economic fundamentals and perceptions of risk shaped by global narratives.

Stories influence the price of capital. For generations, economists measured prosperity through natural, financial and human capital. Increasingly, nations are investing in narrative capital.

For much of the 20th century, international relations scholars explained influence through hard and soft power. Today's geopolitical race is increasingly about authorship.

Often mistaken for storytelling, narrative sovereignty is more strategic – a nation's ability to produce, distribute and authenticate its own story through institutions it owns, technology it controls and partnerships it cultivates.

Strategic investments and expansion of multilingual broadcasting, documentary production, journalist exchange programmes, cultural diplomacy, digital platforms, AI applications and international co-productions form infrastructure capable of sustaining a country’s narrative capability.

The consequences of lacking narrative sovereignty becomes clear when countries surrender authorship of their own identity. Few magazine covers shaped Africa's global image as profoundly as The Economist's May 13, 2000 cover declaring Africa a "The Hopeless Continent".

Eleven years later, the same publication proclaimed "Africa Rising". Both reflected genuine developments but also revealed a problem. Why should the identity of a continent appear to swing according to editorial judgments made thousands of kilometres away?

Africans possess enough narrative sovereignty to define themselves consistently. The Africa No Filter study suggests this question carries measurable economic consequences.

Stories become financial variables. Kenya, for instance, gave the world M-Pesa, helped redefine digital finance, built one of Africa's leading tech ecosystems and established Nairobi as the "Silicon Savannah". It remains a global sporting powerhouse while Nairobi has become one of Africa's leading diplomatic centres.

Yet ask someone who has never visited Kenya what first comes to mind: Wildlife. Safaris. Marathon runners or political protests. Though accurate, these images are simply incomplete.

Ironically, Kenya's tourism industry demonstrates what sustained narrative investment can achieve. According to the World Travel & Tourism Council, tourism contributed $12.7 billion to Kenya's economy in 2025, accounting for 9.3 per cent of GDP and supporting 1.8 million jobs.

During the 26th UN Tourism General Assembly 2025, Kenya secured membership in the UN Tourism Executive Council for 2025-29.

The achievements were not by accident. Kenya has invested in projecting stories about its wildlife, landscapes and hospitality, creating one of Africa's strongest tourism brands.

The next step is how to expand the stories with the same consistency to project Kenya's innovation, manufacturing, creativity, research and diplomatic leadership.

Every country deserves the opportunity to be understood in full rather than through fragments selected by others.

Countries competed through natural resources, industrial capacity and military strength in the 20th century. In the 21st, they increasingly compete through trust, reputation, credibility and narrative capital.

Susan Mukami is the Project Coordinator, China Media Group. Email: [email protected] Africa.

Reporting originally appeared via Business Daily. Read the full source for additional context.