Sisters and brothers, if we want to truly emancipate ourselves and earn the respect we deserve on the global stage, we must take absolute control of our own history, our present, and our future. We are living in a highly connected technological era where information is not just power, but is a weapon. A devastating weapon that can destabilise entire nations, fracture communities, and ultimately cost thousands of lives.
The current situation in Mali and the wider AES, should serve as a masterclass to the entire continent on how vital it is to control the narrative. These nations, are actively fighting back against a deeply entrenched system of media manipulation.
Have you noticed the blatant hypocrisy of Western media when it comes to these three countries? When the AES makes strides in reclaiming sovereignty, launching indigenous media platforms to fight disinformation, when Mali acquires sophisticated weapons to protect itself paying by their own means, or when countries like Burkina Faso record a decline https://reliefweb.int/report/world/global-terrorism-index-2026?hl=en-GB#:~:text=Burkina%20Faso%2C%20the%20most%20impacted,of%20fewer%20but%20deadlier%20attacks.in terror-related fatalities, there is complete silence. You will rarely see positive news or developmental milestones broadcast on their international networks.
But the moment a tragedy strikes, or a cowardly terror attack occurs killing hundreds of innocents, suddenly they become relevant. The Sahel becomes breaking news around the clock, and the narrative is tightly controlled by a specific group of foreign media outlets. Even worse, some of these networks completely abandon journalistic integrity to act as direct information relays for bandits and terrorists. They actively provide global platforms to so-called opposition leaders and rebel spokespersons who are, in reality, nothing more than traitors working to tear their own nations apart.
Before anyone yells conspiracy, what I am talking about is a documented reality. It is exactly why state-owned foreign broadcasters like TV5, France 24 and RFI were suspended across the AES. These networks were repeatedly flagged for spreading biased reporting, violating media regulations, and effectively providing a megaphone to militant groups under the guise of objective journalism.
We cannot allow external forces to define our reality. Africans must remain highly critical of the information, or rather the deliberate disinformation, that the enemies of our people willingly spread in order to destroy us. The era of blindly consuming news exported by the very nations that historically benefit from our instability must end.
We should build our own communication networks, support our own investigative journalists who are on the ground, not in Paris, London, or Washington, and tell our own stories. Although military or economic independence are part of sovereignty, informational independence is also critical. The Sahel is waking up and fighting the information war. The rest of the continent must take notes and follow suit. #local