Sulemana Braimah on the media’s role to ensure COVID recovery in West Africa

In this ninth “Coronavignette,” we continue to share conversations with leaders of civil society organizations in Africa on how COVID-19 affects their work.

Sulemana Braimah is Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa, an Accra-based regional network of media organizations that envisions “a West Africa in which all persons enjoy the right to freedom of expression without fear or threat by any actors.” They work on freedom of expression, digital rights, and accountable governance.

In this 10-minute video, Sulemana describes:

• What it feels like to walk around Accra during the “new normal” of the pandemic
• How West Africa’s media houses are losing their best journalists to jobs in the corporate sector with higher salaries
• The dangerous reliance of media houses on the government for advertising revenue
• The increasing need for non-profit, public interest journalism
• If Ghana’s government and the media will be ready for December’s presidential elections
• Whether reporting on government scandals lead to disillusionment with democracy

Our conversation was recorded at the end of May, so the number of confirmed COVID cases in Ghana is out of date. As of August, the number of confirmed cases is around 40,000 resulting in 200 confirmed deaths.

In the coming weeks we have more Coronavignettes with the African Centre for Studies of the United States, Open Institute, and Global Integrity.