The stories we tell鈥攁nd the way we tell them鈥攃an shape perceptions, influence policy, and even affect social change.
When storytelling embraces diverse, factual and empowering frame, it becomes a powerful tool for positive change and influence. It can also challenge stereotypes, broaden perspectives and foster empathy.
However, when a storyteller relies on a narrow, distorted, and negative frame, they often perpetuate stereotypes that reduce complex realities into oversimplified narratives.
Africa as a continent has long been burdened by pervasive stereotypes and negative storytelling, often depicting through the narrow lenses of poverty, conflict, disease and underdevelopment.
To counter these stereotypes, Africa No Filter (ANF), a non-profit organisation dedicated to shifting entrenched narratives and reshaping how Africa is represented in global narratives, is leveraging innovative AI-powered tools to transform storytelling.
Abimbola听Ogundairo, Africa No Filter鈥檚 Advocacy and Campaigns Lead, spoke to听Africa Renewal听about the role and impact of AI tools in reshaping narratives about the African continent.
She recalls coming across a report on the BBC Africa鈥檚 webpage about the Ashenda festival in Ethiopia with the headline reading: 鈥淧ost-war joy in Ethiopia鈥檚 Tigray region as festival is resumed鈥�.鈥� Yet, she observed, 鈥渢he content of the report had nothing to do with war.鈥�
Granted, the otherwise annual festival had been interrupted by a two-year conflict., still 鈥渋t was the report鈥檚 that insistence on adding the phrase 鈥減ost-war鈥� to the headline , that E,鈥� Ms. Ogundairo felt was not necessary.鈥�
Instantly, she personally crafted a tweet in response to the BBC, but Ms. Ogundairo recalls 鈥� it was time-consuming, and we realized we couldn鈥檛 continue doing this manually.鈥�
Tackling stereotypes in storytelling
To this day, global media coverage and the stories being told about troubled regions in Africa are replete with stereotypes and biases. Often, the continent is portrayed as a land of poverty, corruption, and conflict, thus reinforcing harmful biases that dehumanise its people and overlook the continent鈥檚 diversity, resilience, and potential.
To the people in Africa, this reductive storytelling has tangible consequences: it discourages foreign investment, reinforces stigma, and influences policy decisions in ways that marginalize regions instead of supporting their development.
One of Africa No Filter鈥檚 flagship AI tools is the 鈥楢frica Bias Buster,鈥� designed to detect biased language in stories about Africa and provide recommendations for more balanced storytelling.
The organisation developed this tool in response to the persistent negative framing of African stories, often boiled down to simplistic, stereotype-driven narratives.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not saying that poverty, corruption, and conflict don鈥檛 exist in Africa,鈥� explains Ms. Ogundairo, 鈥淏ut the over-emphasis on these themes is lazy. Stories about Africa often seem to fall back on these stereotypes, even when there鈥檚 more to tell about the continent.鈥�
The Africa Bias Buster was born out of a practical need to streamline the manual review of content for bias. Previously, storytellers would sit with editors to go through their work to identify any problematic language, generalisations, or stereotypical phrases.
鈥淚t was manual and time-consuming work, going through stories, pointing out issues, and saying: 鈥漝on鈥檛 use that word, don鈥檛 generalize,鈥欌�� says Ms. Ogundairo, 鈥淪o, we thought, why not automate part of this process?鈥�
Thus, it acts like a screening tool. Storytellers upload their content, and the AI analyzes it for biased or stereotypical language. It provides a rating out of five, with higher scores indicating a greater need for revisions. In addition to detecting bias, the tool offers practical recommendations to improve the story.
鈥�It doesn鈥檛 rewrite the story for you because we want this to serve as a learning tool,鈥� explains Ms. Ogundairo 鈥淭he goal is for storytellers to engage with the feedback, learn, and get better at telling nuanced听 and dignified stories.鈥�
Cost of Stereotyping
The persistence of negative stereotypes has real financial implications for the Africa.
A recent report by Africa Practice and Africa No Filter reveals that these portrayals cost Africa up to $4.1 billion annually in inflated sovereign debt interest rates.
This so-called 鈥減rejudice premium鈥� disproportionately burdens African nations, especially during election periods. The study compares election coverage in African countries such as 听Kenya and Nigeria to non-African countries with similar risk profiles.
The study shows stark contrast: while election coverage in non-African countries with similar profiles tends to focus on policy issues, elections in Africa are often depicted through the lens of violence or corruption.
According to the report, this skewed narrative reinforces harmful perceptions, leading lenders to impose unfair lending terms and more expensive loans, ultimately restricting access to capital for countries that would otherwise have stable credit ratings.
Beyond debt, these negative portrayals about Africa can obscure commercial opportunities, discourage investment, and exacerbate development challenges, perpetuating cycles of poverty and underdevelopment.
News sentiment visualization tool
In addition to the Bias Buster, Africa No Filter is also developing the 鈥楴ews Sentiment Visualization Tool,鈥� which provides a visual representation of how African stories are framed across the continent.
This AI tool aggregates news from various and diverse African and international media outlets, analyzing the overall tone of coverage鈥攑ositive, neutral, or negative鈥攆or the stories coming out of different countries.
鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to position ourselves as a narrative watchdog for the continent,鈥� says Ms. Ogundairo 鈥淭he sentiment visualization tool is part of that effort.鈥�
This AI-driven tool creates a colour-coded map of Africa, where each country is represented based on the sentiment of the news being reported about it. Green represents positive stories, red indicates negative coverage, and neutral news is shown in a different colour. Using uses data from Google News, the tool aggregates content and offers a clear picture of how each Africa country is portrayed, both locally and internationally
鈥淵ou鈥檒l be able to see, at a glance, whether the news coming from Togo, for example, is generally positive or negative,鈥� explains Ms. Ogundairo 鈥淚f, for example, a country like Djibouti is covered mostly in negative terms, it will show up in red.鈥�
Going further, the tool will break down the percentage of positive, negative, or neutral stories on a daily basis, allowing users to track trends over time.
Eventually, Africa No Filter plans to enhance the AI tool鈥檚 capability to not only monitor but also actively respond to biased narratives.
鈥淩ight now, we鈥檙e using AI for monitoring,鈥� says Ms. Ogundairo: 鈥淏ut in the future, we want the AI to learn from our responses and automatically react to biased headlines.鈥�
These AI tools signify more than just technological innovations and advancement鈥攖hey represent a new frontier in the battle in changing how Africa is perceived, both on the continent and globally.
By offering 听tools that can analyze, monitor, and respond to biased stories, Africa No Filter is empowering storytellers to reshape narratives and provide more balanced and dignified representations of Africa,
鈥淚f we let the same old narratives persist, there鈥檚 a cost to that,鈥� emphasizes Ms. Ogundairo.
