Skip to main content

Winter ABC Day 13: How Blogging is Pacing the African Narrative

This week has been so exciting for me during the challenge. I'm grinning from one ear to the other about sharing my biggest passion - Africa. You need to dissect my brain and see the ideas percolating through it. It's all about Africa! Telling the African story, reshaping and rebuilding Africa, as well as making Africa great.

On the subject of telling African stories, did you know that there are thousands of bloggers across the continent? African millennials and centennials are publishing most of these blogs. The blogs vary from political activism, citizen journalism, to lifestyle and entertainment. The continuous purchasing of smart mobile phones allows Africans to create and access stories from their phones. Many bloggers like myself have blogging applications such as WordPress,  Blogger, Tumblr, or Medium, according to preference. One can blog by the bus stop, in between class breaks, or when their laptop is inaccessible.

The 17% and 38% internet penetration in North and Sub-Saharan Africa respectively, has not deterred the continuous growth of African bloggers. As indicated in a previous blog, we as a continent are still lagging behind in affordable and easily  available internet. In spite of these hurdles, the resilient African continues to press on and disseminate information. Recently an online platform ranked the top 100 music blogs in Africa. South Africa and Nigeria dominate the list with the most blogs. Due to cheaper data tariffs, Kenya joins the two when it comes to having a large number of blogs.

Entertainment and news blogs are the most dominant on the continent. Fashion and lifestyle blogs are slowly merging in the blogging sphere. Due to the need to share recipes for African cuisines, food blogs are also fast rising. Millennial mothers seeking tips on new age parenting have their own community. Beauty trends are an obsession in Africa hence make-up artists, utilise the blogging space to market themselves. Many businesses are taking advantage of blogs to establish networks and trade across the continent. Other businesses are positioning themselves as thought leaders in their respective industries through blogging.

Zimbabwe isn't far off on the blogging sphere. The community is small but clearly big enough to have bloggers awards. As few have garnered visibility to gain advertisers. Some have even won awards locally and regionally. Several host workshops and masterclasses to train individuals and corporates about blogging. Fashion bloggers are Instagram sensations, receiving double taps and verifications through their numbers. In turn, blogging is becoming a viable business.

Corporates are slowly viewing  bloggers as influencers to their target audience. We are not yet at the level of our Western counterparts who can live completely off blogging. Most bloggers in Africa have nine to five jobs. Dedicated bloggers use their salaries to invest in tools to improve their blogs.

We still have a long way to go but the journey is worth it. Africans are having conversations around evolving subjects that affect them. Africa is worth marketing to the rest of the world. Expansion of blogging on the continent is inevitable. With the correct structures implemented, we are looking at a gold mine.

African bloggers, write up and be heard!

P.S. Always write your own love story!

Ciao!

Lady E
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

We Aren't that Couple!

We are perfectly imperfect! Bonjour mes armies, comment ça va? Je vais trés bien merci!  Bring your glasses of your favourite poison and let's chat. We are drawing close to that time of the year. I wouldn't let us leave this profound year without a few lessons. It's story time.   It's taken time—actually, years—for he and I to come to this place. We haven't always seen eye-to-eye, yet we find ourselves here. It's actually insane! But time does help with self-discovery. For me, the healing process has put things into perspective. I'm not yet there, but I'm becoming her, and he's willing to see me through it.  What I love about he and I is simply the fact that we aren't that couple. You know those who have to constantly update their Gram or WhatsApp status to validate the strength of their union? Before you come for me, it's "cute," and yes, you and your person should declare your affection for each other. I'm just from the sch...
Post a Comment
Read more

That's Not My Portion

A man  needs to take responsibility of his own healing and growth... We all have different love stories that we are writing. There is no formula of how we fall in love or love. At times we can’t help whom we fall for although we can choose whether or not to love them. For healthy relationships, we look for a partner who brings out the best in us. A person who is patient with our flaws but doesn’t allow us to get away with bullshit behaviour. We demand and give respect to partners who love themselves enough to show how they will be treated and loved. In turn we take notes from Eleanor “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” There is room for growth in visions and maturity in character. “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. -Eleanor Roosevelt” If we have an understanding of ‘love’ why is it that we shortchange ourselves? I decided to end a ‘relationship’ because it didn’t look or feel like a ‘relationship’. It was more of me being ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Auld Lang Syne ... Maybe Not All the Time

Sometimes the end is a new beginning!  It's a new year! To be more precise, the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty-two. According to the Hebrew calendar the year is 5782.  The crossover into 2022 was particularly dull due to the curfew. When we say that the pandemic is a buzzkill, the sentiment is real. As a staunch believer in the saying, "How you leave is how you enter," I often enjoy spending my time in church. The service prior to the countdown often invigorates my faith. Praying and seeding on the first day of the 365 or 366 is comforting. Unfortunately, the authorities ensured that the gathering of the saints wouldn't happen on their watch. We had to sit and watch the livestream from home. As the new year came, I started to think of the song synonymous with the new year. Auld Lang Syne. Based on the 18th century Scottish song, the words read: Should Old Acquaintance be forgot, and never thought upon; The flames of Love extinguished, and fully past a...
Post a Comment
Read more

Script My life

Ever watched a movie and wish that it was your reality? How many rom coms have you watched and wish you could experience that fuzzy lovey-dovey scene?Life is not a movie,although I sometimes wish it was. I have been scripting my life from Love Jones to Brown Sugar to Madea's Family Reunion.(Don't we just love the wedding scene).Lady E enters the world of fantasy but with the truths of reality.A movie might not completely depict my life,but it can have a similarity.I take lessons learnt from every story,no matter how cliched.As the author of my own life,I am scripting it,although at times the pen is passed on to the next person,but only for a short while.I am the director,the scenes are shot until I say cut. P.S.: Always write your own love story. Ciao! Lady E
Post a Comment
Read more

5 Ways Your 30s Are Better Than the 20s

Talk thirty to me! Never ask a lady her age, they say. At a particular age, many refuse to share how old they really are. This year, so many people that I know turned 30. Even famous individuals such as Chris Brown and Misred joined the dirty thirty gang. From my thirty something self, I welcome you all. Your thirties are a whole different stage of life compared to your twenties and forthcoming forties. Though a tricky age to be, your 30s are a defining decade. They are a reflection of the rest of your life based on the map that you draw. Being thirty or plus something comes with an evolution to your being. You discover that you are no longer the same person you were at seventeen or twenty five. This means that entering into this decade you have a new point of view! Don't cry about turning older! These are the five reasons why your 30s are way much better than your 20s. 1. You know what you want How many of us couldn't wait to sing, "I've got the keys, ...
Post a Comment
Read more