Attending and speaking at ABBC2025 was a genuinely energising experience. I’m deeply grateful to the organisers for the invitation and for curating a programme that brought together such a thoughtful, diverse group of media leaders and practitioners. From the outset, the symposium felt more like a collaborative workshop than a conference; every session invited active engagement, honest reflection, and practical problem-solving.
As a data analyst and researcher at Nendo, my contribution focused on how social listening and audience analytics can inform editorial decisions, strengthen audience trust, and drive sustainable engagement strategies. What I most appreciated about the session I was part of was the willingness of attendees to move beyond theory: editors, digital leads, and content producers came ready to share real operational challenges, from resource constraints to measuring long-term impact, and the resulting conversation was rich with actionable ideas. The dialogue confirmed something I’ve observed in practice: that data only becomes valuable when it’s translated into clear actions that newsroom teams can adopt on a day-to-day basis.
Two things stood out for me about ABBC2025. First, the calibre of participants: speakers and delegates alike brought a rare combination of local knowledge and practical experience, which made peer learning immediate and relevant. Second, the balance between big-picture thinking and hands-on tactics. Some sessions encouraged us to envision new editorial models and policy interventions. In contrast, others provided step-by-step approaches for enhancing audience retention, combating misinformation, and integrating new tools, such as social listening, into existing workflows.
I left the symposium with three concrete takeaways that are worth sharing with colleagues across the region. One, build simple feedback loops: use quick, repeatable metrics to test new formats and surface what audiences actually want, not what we assume they want. Two, invest in cross-department fluency: when journalists, data analysts and product people adopt common, lightweight frameworks for experimentation, innovation happens faster and with less friction. And three, prioritise trust metrics: beyond clicks and shares, measures of credibility and meaningful engagement are the strongest predictors of long-term audience loyalty.
Beyond the content, ABBC2025 served as a poignant reminder of the value of connection. I had several conversations that opened up immediate collaboration possibilities, from joint research on digital behaviour to pilots on zero-click content and community moderation strategies. These conversations reinforced my belief that many of the challenges facing African media are best addressed through partnerships where resources and knowledge are pooled, rather than duplicated.
I also want to recognise the warmth and professionalism of the organisers. The event logistics and the care taken to ensure that speakers and participants could network effectively made it easy to focus on the substance of the discussions. That kind of thoughtful curation matters; it amplifies the impact of ideas and makes it easier to turn inspiration into follow-up action.
If the organisers find it helpful, I’m happy to turn the session materials and some of the examples I shared into a short, practical brief for ABBC attendees, a one-page checklist, and a short reading list that teams can use to kickstart pilots back home. I’m equally open to contributing to the knowledge product you are assembling from speaker testimonials, and to participating in follow-up conversations or workshops that translate the symposium’s ideas into concrete regional projects.
Thank you once again for the opportunity to participate in ABBC2025. I value the thoughtful debates, the new friendships, and the promising avenues for collaboration that emerged. I look forward to staying engaged and contributing in any way I can to the important work of strengthening African media ecosystems.