Embrace digital technology to tell African stories,  Multichoice CEO tasks African media

Chief Executive Officer, CEO of MultiChoice Africa, Yolisa Phahle, yesterday challenged African media chiefs to embrace digital technology which has become the new way of telling  stories. Phahle said that using digital technology to tell African stories, would make them better understood.  For her, rapid advances in digital technology in Africa has created new opportunities and the media should take advantage of it.

She spoke in Dubai at the 5th edition of Digital Dialogue conference organised by MultiChoice Africa.  She said: “digital technology has brought innovation in content delivery. She charged Africans to embrace digital technology as it will “change how people consume our products,” adding that it should be a “collective responsibility to play an active role in making sure our continent benefits from this opportunity.”

Phahle said Africa should use the opportunity of digital technology to tell its story using the content. She said: “In the midst of the ongoing digital revolution we collectively have the opportunity to not only tell stories that educate and inform African audiences, but are in a position to take African stories to the world, and create a global market for what we do.

“By using the internet and leveraging technology, we have the ability to reach audiences at a global level and the success of companies like Iroko TV, artistes like Davido, actresses like Lupita Nyong’o and the movie Black Panther are confirmation that the world is ready to consume African stories, celebrate African culture and embrace Africa.”

For her, “the conversation is focused on three words: content, technology and customer, which we believe will continue to be essential for any news or media organisation that wants to survive and grow in the future.” She challenged the media to “ find new ways of engaging more effectively with viewers when there are more choices than ever, more free content than ever and our customers are becoming more and more accustomed to receiving personalised content.”