The 2025 edition of Africast, Africa’s foremost broadcast and media convergence conference, opened in Lagos with a strong call for innovation, collaboration, and ethical regulation to guide the continent’s fast-evolving digital media landscape.
Declaring the event open, Dr. Charles Ebuebu, Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), said Africast has evolved from a modest gathering in 1996 into a continental platform “where ideas make policy, creativity meets technology, and Africa’s broadcast voice asserts itself in a global digital world.”
He said this year’s theme — “Navigating the Digital Surge: Building a Resilient African Media Ecosystem for the Future” — challenges the continent to embrace transformation responsibly.
According to him, broadcasting now exists “in the cloud, the app store, the algorithm, and the audience’s hand,” requiring a shift from control-based to collaborative, enabling regulation.
He unveiled NBC’s initiatives, including policies for online audiovisual platforms, expansion of digital coverage through satellite partnerships, and frameworks for transparent audience measurement and media literacy to combat misinformation and deepfakes.
In his keynote, Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, former Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, identified four pillars for media transformation — infrastructure expansion, regulatory innovation, local content development, and capacity building.
He called for broadband investment and digital literacy, describing digital infrastructure as a public good.
“No policy can succeed without skilled people to drive it,” he said, urging governments to support indigenous storytelling and strengthen creative industries.
Representing Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, commended the NBC for sustaining Africast as a platform for Africa’s broadcast future.
He warned that while technology has expanded creativity, it has also fueled misinformation and cyber threats.
Omotoso urged regulators to balance openness with responsibility, and promote truth verification, ethical journalism, and collaboration among governments, academia, and the private sector.
Also speaking, Senator Ken Emeka Eze, Chairman, Senate Committee on Information and National Orientation, disclosed that the National Assembly is working to amend the NBC Act to align with digital realities.
The bill, now before the legislature, seeks to empower the Commission to regulate online broadcasting and ensure fair competition.
He urged stakeholders to contribute to the process to make the law robust and forward-looking.Other speakers, including the Director-General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), described Africast as a hub for dialogue, innovation, and collaboration across Africa’s broadcast ecosystem.
With sessions on AI in broadcasting, agile regulation, satellite-led infrastructure, and content monetization, Africast 2025 reaffirmed a collective vision for an inclusive and credible digital media future.
As Dr. Ebuebu summed up, “The future of African broadcasting is not something to predict — it is something to build together.”