Characteristics of African media markets

by Guy Berger, Paper for workshop convened by Forum Media and Development, 
15-16. September, 2006. Academy Eichholz Castle, Germany: “Money matters. How Independent Media Manage to Survive”.

1. Introduction

This paper assumes that an overview about African media markets like this is intended for a purpose. That purpose is to highlight obstacles and opportunities for growth in these markets. This indeed is a topical issue, not least because of various initiatives in the wake of the recommendation in the March 2005 Blair Commission for Africa that “Independent media institutions, public service broadcasters, civil society and the private sector, with support from governments, should form a consortium of partners, in Africa and outside, to provide funds and expertise to create an African media development facility.” African media markets and how to develop them is a highly relevant matter. 

The insights contained in this paper draw from recent academic research as well as direct personal experience of having been an editor who has also served as business manager on a weekly newspaper in Cape Town. It is also based on insights gained from teaching media management on numerous short courses for Southern Africans in the past decade. Lastly, work by colleagues in the Sol Plaatje Media Leadership Institute at Rhodes University, a facility founded by this author, has also been valuable in contributing to the perspectives herein. At the same time, it must be stated that this paper is to a large extent impressionistic rather than “scientific”. Further, when the term “Africa” is used below, it designates mainly Anglophone sub-Saharan Africa and more correctly Southern Africa. Of course, even Southern Africa is also very diverse, as is discussed below. 

2. Mapping which markets?

If we take the word “markets” literally, the term refers to the competitive exchange of goods and services, and size and speed are usually important factors. In regard to media, this refers to the whole gamut of transaction relationships that go into the sustained reproduction of a media enterprise. There are very many of these, especially if one includes various services to that enterprise. Thus, African media depend on the exchange of numerous commodities – and the relationships that enable these (i.e. “markets”). Much like those elsewhere in the world, therefore, African media markets can be assessed in regard to: 

•	Finance (capital markets) ; 
•	Facilities (newsprint supply, PCs & software, printing presses, studios, etc);
•	Audiences and/or consumers ;
•	Advertising, advertorials, sponsorships;
•	Promotions and events;
•	“Pipes”/frequencies/cables/transmission masts;
•	Points of retail sale;
•	Reception devices (eg. Radio sets); 
•	Skills (editorial, business, legal, accounting);
•	Services (eg. Market research, business intelligence, consultancies, training, etc.)
•	Editorial content (freelancers; news agencies; syndication arrangements)

It can be acknowledged that progress in some markets can be relatively independent of the state of others. For instance, it is not uncommon in South Africa newspapers to find shrinking audiences and yet increasing advertising. However, on the other side, the interdependent character of many markets also means that problems or limitations in one market can have a major negative impact on prospects in other markets and therefore the media as a whole. For example, it is hard to build the audience market for TV if there are weaknesses in the transmission services or receiver set markets. Thus, a holistic approach is needed if we are to grasp what it takes to develop media as such.

Theses principles apply to African media no less than to many other countries. However, at the outset it must be stated that the continent in general is very, very far from the 24/7 ubiquitous media commodity exchanges found in Western countries. There are also many other particularities. One striking one is in regard to the market for editorial content, i.e. the buying and selling of information to go into the media. Such commodity exchange does not exist in many African media outlets in regard to international news.  Instead of the commercial purchase of content, there is substantial piracy (intellectual property theft rather than market exchange). This is thanks to the availability of much content on the Internet which is reproduced without permission, acknowledgement or credit. 

Also found in Africa, unlike Western countries is a particular character to the markets for content whereby news-makers have to pay for content to appear - in the guise of editorial. This is in the illicit exchange when journalists demand or receive an honorarium from the source in order to cover a particular story. Called “soli” (from “solidarity”), “gatu” (from “gratuity”), or most commonly “brown envelope journalism”, this is an all too common feature within African media markets in West and even Eastern Africa. In some countries, such as Angola, a different kind of content market exists (in embryonic cultural form): This is in the attempt by sources to extract money in exchange for information they are being asked for. This amounts to a kind of “cheque book” journalism in extremis, although it is seldom that journalists and media houses in Africa are in a position to pay sources for information. In summary, in some areas, African media bypasses markets and simply plagiarises content; in other areas sources become “markets” for journalists to exploit, and journalists are regarded as “markets” by some sources. Needless to say, such market and non-market relations are not conducive to either credibility or to the development of the wider market for the media. What all this points to are some of the peculiarities of African media markets, which is a theme developed in the next section. 

3. The big picture: Africa in comparison to developed countries’ markets

Perhaps the major point highlighting the distinctiveness of African media markets concerns the small state of the industry in much of the continent, which contrasts with much else in the world. In advanced media markets, where there is often information/entertainment overload, it is evident that media enterprises tend to “follow the market”. For example, they have to give the audiences what they want, and also advertisers what they want (i.e. particular kinds of demographics, editorial vehicles and editorial environments). But in Africa, which is so far from being media dense, it is more a case of “build the market” (in the above example, amongst both audiences and advertisers). It is sometimes remarked that no one really knows exactly what audiences in Africa want, not even these people themselves, because there is so little exposure to a range of alternatives out of which preferences can be formed, identified and exploited as a market. In other words, “audiences” as constructs are not something that pre-exists in many African media markets. Much more so than in developed countries, such social classes have to be created from scratch (not just renewed or recreated). And in this quest although there may be major “gaps in the market” (in terms of the sizeable hunger for various content by African publics), the business constraint is whether there are (viable) “markets in the gaps”. The extent of poverty in Africa militates against answering this positively, and there are other factors (such as language, see below) that further make for complexities in developing markets. 

A second distinctive point about African media markets is in terms of drivers. According to one theory of Western media economics, the starting point of successful media is (a) appropriate editorial, which then attracts (b) interested audiences, and these in turn enable the enterprise to then secure (c) advertising.  In turn, the advertising revenue funds the production of further editorial, so enabling a virtuous circle to revolve. Of course, some people would argue that in practice, the real starting point of much Western media is advertising, not editorial. In other words, that media development in advanced capitalist countries is driven by the potential for advertising growth, which starting point then leads to the production of a tailored media product that will garner the audience for whom advertisers are searching. The editorial “idea” thus comes second in this scenario. Furthermore, in this model, the customers of most media businesses are not in fact the audience; rather they are commodities that are constructed for sale to the real customers – viz. the advertisers.  

At any rate, neither interpretation of Western media economics is readily applicable to African media markets. The difference is that most media in Africa starts – and ends – with politics rather than economics. For example, many traditional suppliers of finance, such as banks, are politically scared to lend to private media in Africa because of the potential political sensitivities, plus the possible insecurity of the investment in an enterprise that can be eliminated at the stroke of pen signing a banning order. Some NGO-driven facilities such as the Botswana-based Southern African Media Development Fund (SAMDEF) have come into being to try and fill the gap to an extent. There have also been some investments by the International Finance Corporation (in the unsuccessful TV Africa), and by the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (in movies like Tsotsi). But the absence of effective markets in capital that could cater to media operations is a major constraint around the continent.  The question of media investment markets, however, cannot be separated from the political risks involved.

Politics affects not just capital markets. It even overdetermines the whole economic dynamic in much African media. In developed countries, people often operate media as a means to make money. In Africa, even where there is a dynamic of making money, this is often in order to run media - as a political venture. (This model differs to the Berlusconi one, which combines political and commercial purpose in equal measure!). Thus it can be noted that state-owned media in much of Africa is run for political propaganda purposes on behalf of governments, while most private media is run by critical activists of varying hues (some linked to opposition parties). To a limited extent, some media content operates with a development agenda (as distinct from a political agenda, whether democratic or despotic). This is usually on a non-commercial basis (such as through donor or state support). But on the whole, that sector of African media which is run purely for business reasons – i.e. as an investment prospect – is the least common dynamic to be found. 
 
This character gives rise to another difference between African media markets and West European markets. In the latter, state-owned broadcasters are usually run without a commercial dynamic, with much financing deriving from non-market mechanisms, such as licence fees or governmental grants. This is because their rationale is public broadcasting, and indeed there is also a vociferous private broadcast industry that is very hostile to public enterprises competing for revenue in advertising markets. Africa is very different: not only are most state-owned broadcasters “governmental”, rather than “public”, they are also very active in advertising markets. The aim of this is not to make profits for the state, in the sense that a public enterprise might be designed to do; it is mainly to lessen the costs of running a political mouthpiece for the government. 

Whereas advertising in Europe tends (with some exceptions) to imply independence of government, and rather dependence on the private sector, this is not the case in many African countries. The excessive commercialism that characterises many African state broadcasters is combined with political control. Public service thus suffers at the expense of both characteristics. Another major point is that much advertising in Africa is done by the state itself, which dynamic lends itself to enormous political abuse. Both the Namibian and Botswana authorities in recent years have attempted to ban the placing of government advertisements in independent and critical newspapers. This again highlights that African media markets are inextricably tied up with politics, and indeed an environment where media does not always have the luxury of a relative separation between economic and political power. 

Although broadcasting around Africa is mainly advertising-financed, this is not the case with much print media. Instead, many newspapers and magazines tend to rely on cover price – i.e. an exchange directly with readers. In addition, most of these sales tend to be street-based, with subscriptions and home deliveries being very low. The result is fragile cash-flows for African newspapers and often a tendency to hype stories in order to achieve street sales. Again, these characteristics are different to those found in advanced Western media markets. 

A last point highlighting the difference between African and Western media markets concerns the scale and history of the continent. On the one hand, there is a myriad of local languages which is both an opportunity for niche media, but also a challenge due to smallness of size. The rural dispersion of many residents also makes for a challenge in terms of distribution, even as regards broadcasting signals. On the other hand, there is also a common longing around sub-Saharan Africa towards an “African-ness” which raises the potential – at least amongst middle classes – for transnational media markets (in one of three colonially inherited national languages). For example, stories about Kofi Annan will resonate across most of the continent, due to an identification and aspiration that derives from the pan-African shared experience of racism and colonialism, and resistance thereto. In contrast, European media markets appear to be far more nationally limited – at least as regards news, culture, sports and language.  In addition, Africa is characterised by an enormous diaspora of diverse generations, and this also provides huge market potential (not least at the level of Internet content). 

In summary, African media markets cannot be taken as given, or as if they have only to be “exploited” or “tapped into”. They have to be built. They are mainly politically, rather than economically, driven. State-owned media combines this character with being commercial, however. Sales revenue, rather than advertising, is the business model of much print, and African potential markets are both very small (and language-based) as well as potentially pan-African and international.

4. Issues for African Media Development: deepening density

Strengthening and expanding African media markets is part of what can be termed “media development”. The latter phrase intrinsically assumes a particular model of what a “developed” media would look like, and this needs to be surfaced. There are many possibilities: The developed media markets of the USA, the UK and Germany are pretty different. The first country has an overwhelming private broadcast industry based on advertising and subscription, and a fringe public broadcasting system funded by donations; the second has a large private sector but also a large central public broadcaster financed by licence fees (BBC); the third has a mix, and that applies even to its public broadcasting sector which also includes an aggregation of regionally-based broadcasters (ARD). So what then would or should “media development” mean in Africa? According to Western models of “media development”, the African mediascape would not be developed because it does not match the US model of a powerful private media, nor the UK model with an independent public broadcaster, etc. Should Africa aspire to one of these versions - perhaps look to “developed” status in a more Africa-centred sense: what would it mean for African media to grow and play a greater part in the lives of Africans? Would this latter approach not, probably, require us to look at community media alongside private (i.e. capitalist) and public media – i.e. a sector of media which, in theory at least, should not be tied to a state with the incumbent risks of political control, but which also does not depend on generating profits (which would curtail media enterprises to being urban-based and middle-class focused)? Community media is also mainly a local platform, providing for local languages and participation, with rationale that both competes with, but also complements, private and public media. In this light, African media development would include interventions that help community media start and be sustained alongside a state-owned sector that has been transformed into public media, and also a pluralistic private media sector. Such a totality thus means a different model to those in the West. This is an important elaboration of what one might then mean in talking about deepening media density in Africa – a precondition, incidentally, for promoting the Information Society on the continent. All this of course is not to idealise the mediascape as if the three sectors (community, public, private-commercial) are, or should be, all mutually exclusive. For instance, public service obligations are often spread – in varying degrees – across all sectors, not just the public media sector. Commercial aspects may also characterise all sectors (in appropriately varying degrees, hopefully), not just the private one.  However, what we are talking about are differences in emphases within an overall media reality working towards its development in diverse African conditions. 

Within this perspective, a strong case can be made that the imperative for Africa is media quantity rather than quality. Of course, even quantity, as discussed below, must entail a minimum of quality in order for it to find sustainable consumers. In addition, the propaganda “quality” of government broadcasting – the biggest medium in the continent – is a great obstacle for any kind of development. More government media is not required. However, the quantity argument is that more of other kinds of media – in the sense of pluralism – means the prospect of enabling greater competition and choice, and thence progressive impact in terms of democracy and development. It is certainly more difficult (even if more imperative!) to promote diversity in content if there is not a plurality of media outlets. For instance, especially in conventional broadcasting, there are (and for a long time will be) a finite number of prime-times. More media means more content and more players across the entire public sphere spectrum: i.e. in public media, commercial private media and community media. Perhaps there is still some place within this whole for governmental media – in the context of a developmental state seeking its own voice to promote various programmes. But even if so, this sector should not be at the expense of (or in competition with) other media sectors, and it should certainly not reflect an imbalance in which the state spends more on boosting its own communications capacity to speak at its citizens, than it does on promoting the capacity of citizens to communicate with each other and back to it.  This means an African media development perspective of prioritising the deepening of media density through promoting markets that include a proper public service media (possibly along various models – not necessarily the BBC singular one or the current oligopoly-commercialised one), vibrant private media businesses, and sustainable community media.

Deepening such media density can be considered as a two-sided coin. On the media provision side, there is the expansion of existing media, and the creation of new media outlets. These raise questions of regulatory environment, entrepreneurial spirit, access to capital and other media input markets, etc. On the media consumption side, there is expanded use of media – which hinges on increased accessibility to audiences, and greater awareness thereof (in part a result of marketing and promotions work from the supply-side). Such access is a matter of the increasing availability of media products, consumer devices (and electrical power), rises in literacy and language competencies, and affordability in regard to costs to the consumer. 
  
One puzzle in this dual dimensional consideration of media density is whether the supply side of media drives demand, or vice versa. This is relevant for the strategic question: where should media development initiatives concentrate their energies? The answer needs to take cognisance of the fact that there is a complex linkage between growth at either pole. For example, media consumption can rise without any increase in supply: as with consumers spending more time with existing media, or sharing media (eg. the number of readers per copy can increase). This is obviously where quantitative growth is linked to “quality” – as defined in practice by consumers. Seen from the other side of the equation, increased production does not necessarily mean more consumption. A governmental broadcaster can extend the reach of its signals (or hours of transmission), but the population may not want to listen to propaganda. There can be advertorial “supplement” inserts or extra pages in a paper; there is no guarantee that anyone will read them.
			
In other words, changes in consumption are not necessarily predicated on changes in production, and increases in supply do not inevitably lead to heightened demand. But nonetheless, irrespective of the growth is taking place, ultimately a society does need an expanded supply in order to have ongoing and unlimited possibility of an increase. You cannot continue to expand consumption ultimately without expanding production. And progress towards the latter at least holds out the real possibility of expanded consumption. This in turn leads onto another consideration. If African media is just young (i.e. “undeveloped”) and merely needing help to grow, then certain interventions suggest themselves (eg. skills development). However, what if there are also obstacles preventing or reversing growth (“underdevelopment”), such as oligopolies and political oligarchs? In this case, different priorities are presented (eg. regulatory reform). Realities in Africa may often be an interdependent mix of media being “undeveloped” and “underdeveloped” in the two senses noted above. Thus skills promotion without regulatory reform may be ineffective in terms of media development; conversely regulatory reform on its own does not produce either the entrepreneurship or management capacity required to take advantage of new opportunities and market openings. 

To sum up this section, the phrase “media development” needs to be shaped according to African conditions, to the complex interrelation between market supply and demand in regard to media density, and to a distinction between those factors that lead to markets being “undeveloped”, and those that lend them to being “underdeveloped”. African media markets need to be strengthened in all respects. 

5. Some detailed illustrations of media markets around Africa. 

As indicated at the outset of this article, it is essential to avoid generalising as if the African media landscape was homogeneous. For example, Kenya, South Africa, Namibia, Nigeria and Tanzania are all very different. On the other hand, all are relatively developed markets as regards a strong capitalist private media sector, operating within a capitalist economy that has a life outside the state. This character for example enables private newspapers in these countries to withstand possible advertising boycotts by government. (At the same time, one should not forget that even in South Africa, the single biggest advertiser by sector is often the state). The point is that such media companies can usually give state-owned media a challenging run for its money. 

In these more developed African countries, the same markets are characterised by functioning markets in media services in varying degrees – for example, in the provision of reliable data about audience consumption, which information is a precondition for the effective functioning and growth of advertising markets. The existence of substantial media companies, some even listed on the stock-exchanges, can exclude the presence of smaller scale private media ventures. This is evident in South Africa where it is extremely hard to break into the print market at least (although regulatory restrictions on concentration of ownership and cross-ownership in radio, mean that there is more space in this public media arena). However, in some cases despite the presence of large media companies, there is still a vibrant sector of many smaller ones which add up to significant media activity. The most prominent example of the latter is “Nollywood” – Nigeria’s movie industry, which has also proved very successful in other African markets.  

All these, however, contrast hugely with those in many other sub-Saharan countries. In Lesotho, neither state nor private media can be said to be flourishing; rather there is an almost hand-to-mouth existence – especially for independent newspapers. Nevertheless, Lesotho’s newspaper market has been divided up with different weekly titles (including the government’s one) appearing on different days of the week – providing audiences with a kind of pluralism taken over the seven days as a whole. 

Another contrasting market is Botswana, where a wealthy state dominates the media landscape across radio, tv and print. As with big corporate players in neighbouring South Africa, smaller private media finds it hard to compete. Thus, the Tswana-language (sold copies) newspaper Mokgosi went out of business after government began to distribute its free (English-language) paper on a daily basis and with expanded pagination. 

What is clear is that many media in the African marketplace operate according to the rhythms of political lifecycles. The democratisation of the 1990s saw a flourishing of private newspapers in very many countries, but the numbers of titles fell as these societies stabilised and social movements declined. In Southern Africa, this saw the collapse of the “alternative” press after the end of apartheid, with many of its staffers moving into the formerly conservative mainstream media. In other countries, the papers were themselves mere means to ends, a political expense that was no longer needed. Their agents ceased journalism once they were offered a foothold in government.

Resistance newspapers tend not to survive when societies move into democracy. However, in Namibia and Zambia, there have been successful transitions with similar titles becoming sustainable daily papers that retained their independence of government. One issue, however, is whether such enterprises can outlive their founders. A move towards corporatisation might lead to a loss of the individual energy and vision that has kept them going, but it would also mean that the enterprises might stand a better chance of continuing as institutions beyond the personalities. In other cases, a different challenge exists, such as in Malawi. There, one of the few amongst the myriad new papers that successfully survived beyond initial democratisation, is questionably independent - it is owned by a cabinet minister.  The DRC’s private television has been closely tied to opposition political leaders. The challenge here is of developing professional media that are treated as institutions in their own right and not as a private means towards political ends. 
 
A final case providing insight into African media markets is Zimbabwe. Here, the state has played a role in actively underdeveloping media – banning print titles, including the country’s biggest daily, major harassment, and a refusal to register new broadcasters. This is an extreme case, but while state policy and practice in many other African may be less obstructionist, it can still constitute an obstacle to media development. The DRC government’s harassment of media is not conducive to anyone thinking of investing money in that sector there. Even in Nigeria, there is still no legalisation of community radio. Zambia’s government has stalled for two years on implementing broadcast reforms that promote real public broadcasting. The Lusaka government also has a severe tax on newsprint imports. Many if not most African governments run media operations that compete directly with private and community media for advertising. 

However, there can also be another side to the role of the state in regard to media development. Nigeria has privatised its state-owned newspaper. South Africa has set up the Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA) which provides finance and support to small media – including some of the more than 100 community radio stations it has licensed. The same government has instituted a skills development levy across all industry sectors including media, with the proceeds going towards training in each area. At the level of regulation, up to 40% quotas for local content for broadcasting help to boost the independent production industry in South Africa. Finally, there is a degree of foreign investment (20%) in broadcast media permitted in that country.  

These specific examples all give insight into the characters of African media markets, in particular the roles played by politics and the state. But one also needs to keep sight of the nimble and dedicated work done by many media entrepreneurs to survive in environments where the state is the problem and far from becoming part of the solution.

6. Developing a holistic multiplex strategy

According to US academic Maxwell McCombs (1997), media in USA never amounted to more than 5% of GNP, and media spend per family was also never went higher than 5%. The implication of this analysis for him is that media growth amounts to a zero-sum activity within the 5% limit. It means in practice that new media can only survive by taking away from the old, meaning a re-slicing of a fixed advertising and audience pie. In Shaw’s perspective, people do not increase their total media consumption, instead they switch between “Functional Equivalents”.

Somewhat analogous arguments are sometimes heard with regard to Africa, to the effect that the continent’s weak market can only support a limited amount of media. The implication is that media cannot grow faster than the broader African economy, and therefore that media development energies are inevitably limited in their efficacy. 

However, counter arguments can be made to all these points. First, African media is generally much below the 5% figures that McCombs found for the USA. We have a very low base, even in terms of his ceiling, which lends itself to expansion. South Africa is an example here – the newspaper market was long deemed to be overtraded; recent initiatives in tabloid newspapers for lower income groups have demonstrated huge potential for growth in these markets. 

Second, even in the USA, with the increasing Information Society imperatives and dynamics, it is likely that media (including media aspects of the Internet) is expanding as a proportion of both gross national plus domestic products. Third, one needs to assess what market one is talking about: certainly Nollywood’s export performance would suggest that even if McCombs’s ceiling holds in general, the national unit is not necessarily the relevant unit of analysis. As regards pan-African media initiatives, and also the international diaspora, there may very well be markets for particular products that go well beyond that of a nation-state.  (Indeed Disney has found that royalties are payable for a song based on “The lion sleeps tonight” originally composed by South African musician, Solomon Linda).

Fourth, and particularly important, we need to contextualise McCombs’s research as referring to the market-based media industry of the USA. In contrast, Africa is more open to role of extra-market resources for media growth. Thus, the unpaid labour of many volunteers has been critical in helping community radio to survive in places like South Africa. There are also realities of state/donor subsidy for public broadcasters or grassroots media, which help provide for media beyond purely market sustainability. At the same time, one should be wary of some of the implications of this. While market-driven media is intrinsically limited by “market-failure”, a warning has come from the late Francis Kasoma about a “donor-dependent” media. It is the case that in some ways, such donor-driven media is responding to a market: that of donors who seek certain outcomes, as distinct from consumers where the test is time and/or money. Some media have done a good job at exploiting this market – a prime example being serving as a vehicle for agencies seeking to promote HIV-Aids awareness in the public. The result is that such media can do well by doing good. The danger, however, is that while commercial media has to take some cognisance of demand (from both audiences and advertisers), the agenda of subsidised media may sometimes be overly supply-side driven – eg. carrying development or political messages as determined by those providing the money, and irrespective of whether this content resonates with audiences. 

For many media ventures in Africa, a mix of sources of revenue seems to be optimal for conditions for growth. To the extent that African media development involves conventional markets, a number of observations arise from research done by the Sol Plaatje Institute (SPI) at Rhodes University into success stories amongst small commercial newspapers in South Africa. The first relates to the question of advertising: publishers need to demonstrate good returns on adspend. In turn, though, this raises the question of the kind of advertising for which small scale media can compete. The licensing theory in South Africa was that public broadcasting would carry national adverts; private radio would be based on provincial or metrapole-based adverts; and that community radio would provide a cost-effective vehicle for local businesses who would otherwise not be able to pay national or provincial high rates to reach larger audiences than realistically would patronise them anyway. This perspective, however, needs qualifying in two ways. First, local businesses very often have no tradition or experience of advertising: this market has to be built from scratch; second, local media can still compete for national advertising on the basis that their proximity to audiences provides an excellent vehicle for national commodities to reach potential consumers with commercial messages. Of course this pits small scale media directly against bigger media (private and public in South Africa), and a second finding of the SPI was that there is a need to stop anti-competitive activities (such as excessive discounting) by the larger companies. In addition, SPI found, there was a threat of municipal newspapers being founded, which would also compete unfairly with small-scale private publications.  

What SPI further found is that for small commercial newspapers, community outreach was a necessity, not a luxury. It provided for development of their communities, necessary for the health of the paper itself, as well as enhanced visibility and relevance. (Similarly, newspapers-in-education schemes have proved to be sustainable services in large newspapers in South Africa and Uganda). Further findings about success related to the involvement in running the newspapers by people with marketing or financial management history or training. A high degree of multi-tasking was evident amongst people working on the studied publications. It was further observed that family members featured strongly, and there was often a decisive role being played by women leaders and/or owners of the publications. On the characteristics of owners, it was found that these individuals were “strong” leaders, with high tenacity and resourcefulness, and often charismatic.

Another study (Hadland & Thorne, 2004) on stimulating small media in the South Africa context identified specific interventions as follows: creation of a national advert procurement agency; a common system for circulation verification; co-ordinated printing procurement; discounted connectivity; technology plans in each enterprise; and strengthening of networks. 

Other recommendations can be made. Technology utilisation could be cheapened, made more flexible, and related to diverse languages, through promoting Open Source software around the continent. The Namibian, and Grocott’s Mail, are two examples of publications that have benefited from aspects of Open Source. In addition, a clear training policy and strategy, including mentoring, could make a difference to media development at the various levels. 

More controversially, another recommendation could be that mergers, acquisitions, ownership, alliances and joint ventures should be considered so as to promote media development. While “monopoly” is seen as a major problem in First World markets, such trends could strengthen – rather than stunt – media development in much of Africa. Less integrated collaborations could also make a big difference to the health of African media enterprises – such as joint marketing, content-sharing, research, and purchase of inputs. 

A further recommendation could include development of micro-financing available for new media ventures, such as media content being disseminated by cellphones. 

7. Conclusion 

African media has seen a number of innovative steps being taken, all of which could be further amended and adopted for further development of the industry. One is cross-language publishing – for example, Naspers in South Africa is able to recycle content for different language markets by sister publications in different languages (FT weekly magazine; You and Huisgenoot magazines). IPP media in Tanzania is also good at sharing content in different languages and for different audiences. Like IPP, Naspers has also shown how it is possible to publish extra titles riding on the backs of existing ones – sharing costs, facilities and expertise. 

Another innovation has been the data-mining of customers by the Sunday Times  in South Africa. This has meant the launch of specialist products only available to subscribers. One can also point to Independent Newspapers’ fusion of financial pages in six titles, spread across four cities, to produce a new newspaper. The result has been the Business Report. The same company has increased productivity through
newsroom convergence at its Cape Town office, where several different titles are now co-located with common staff in certain sections (sports, photography, sub-editing). However, similar attempts in other cities have not worked well. Also, pushing convergence to extremes, in the form of bi-media (dual radio & tv skilling and servicing) has not worked at SABC. 

Convergence with cellphones is still an early phenomenon. But there has been the use of SMS as a means for classified adverts to be place and paid for in newspapers. In addition, at least one South African newspaper has used the technology to solicit news tips and receive letters, the costs of which are covered through the revenue share with the cellular operator. There is another potential spin-off: the paper has accumulated many thousands of phone numbers which it can use for promotions and for building interactivity. The cellphone has also enhanced the workings of many media. Not least here is Radio Phoenix in Lusaka, which delivers a traffic report not from a helicopter, but via cellphone from the top of the highest building in the capital. The same device is used for live field interviews, where instead of a microphone being used, a staff cellphone is passed between host and interviewee.  
 
What these innovations add up to is that Africa (not homogenous) appears to have potential to strongly grow its media industry.  States can play an invaluable positive policy role, as can donors. Development in African conditions should have certain meanings (including community media). Small media successes have highlighted recommendations put on the table, and there are other interventions that I have discussed.  The politics, however, has to change – to take a step back so that media can thrive through other imperatives. The policies of many African governments need to change if Africa is to benefit from developed media markets (within which all three sectors are vibrant). 

Looking ahead, it seems that newspaper and TV markets shrinking in the First World.
But, it seems, there are indeed prospects for all media to grow, in and across many African countries, depending on the success of specific interventions in the market environment and in particular markets as well. 
   
List of sources cited:

Hadland, A and Thorne, K. 2004. The People’s Voice. HSRC: Bellville.

McCombs, ME 1997. Mass media in the marketplace. Journalism and Mass Communication Monographs, 24. 

 Milne, C; Rau, A ; Du Toit, P and  Mdlongwa, F. 2006. Key Editorial and Business Strategies: a case study of six independent community newspapers. Sol Plaatje Institute: Grahamstown.

Websites:
http://spi.ru.ac.za
www.mdda.org.za
www.saimed.org
www.samdef.com