EMI Week
Proclaimed on November 25, 2019 by UNESCO , this week is a unique opportunity to educate populations about the importance of developing analytical skills and a critical mind. The EMI tends to develop the provisions allowing all audiences to use the media with discernment, both in personal and professional life. If in the past the EMI covers more "traditional" domains, the technological development observed in recent years completely changes the situation. New tools and means of communication must be taken into account.
UNESCO. Director-General, 2017- (Azoulay, A.)
EMI and digital transformation into Africa
Despite the implosion of the smartphone market in the continent, sub -Saharan Africa is the region of the world where the greatest gap between the availability of digital infrastructures and the real use of people are observed.
An average of 84 % of the population of sub -Saharan African countries live in areas accessible to the 3G and 54 % service have 4G. But, according to figures put forward by the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) , in 2023, sub -Saharan Africa, at the end of 2021, 25 % use mobile internet services in this area of the world.
Infographic on digital transformation into Africa
Also, heterogeneity should be emphasized of the average use where use rates vary depending on the country. For example, the Internet is used up to 6 % in South Sudan while this figure reaches 53 % in South Africa.
This digital disparity makes the growth of the EMI more complex in the continent. The absence of national strategies and public policies is also a factor that delays media and information education. The number of unique subscribers to mobile telephony networks must reach 6.3 billion in 2030 according to the GSMA. Sub -Saharan Africa and India represent almost half of the new subscribers in the world by the end of the decade. Therefore, the implementation of easy to use applications with fun and local content can inevitably promote awareness.
The development of this type of tool requires investments and public, but also private programs. As an example, it is possible to quote the Cameroonian association "educational " founded by Blaise Pascal Andzongo, representative Africa of the UNESCO Alliance for the EMI. Winner of the EMI Prize at the International Assizes of Journalism 2023 , its initiative contributes to the popularization of the EMI with all audiences. His training and awareness-raising actions are of trans-regional capital importance in these times turned upside down by disinformation.
