By Alan Morgan

Africa is more democratised and decentralised than ever before. There is a new wave of companies that have started to explore new ways of communicating and interacting with local people. What might others learn from this?
Late last month, in London, a high-profile group of African Ministers, business leaders and nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) gathered to discuss Africa’s extractive sector and its long-term prospects. The aim of the event was to examine ‘new approaches to enduring challenges’, but a fundamental challenge participants wanted to discuss was how to ensure Africa’s resource potential remains a socioeconomic blessing rather than a curse.

The timing of the conference could not have been better. The oil price has fallen sharply over the last 12 months, with many of the major players scrapping key projects and governments slashing budgets. A period of painful adjustment is currently taking place across major oil producing countries in Africa, including once rising stars Angola and Ghana.

Looking beyond the headlines, however, a positive story discussed was the profound shift taking place in the extractive sector, driven by technological, demographic and democratic changes. Companies are now starting to take a progressive stance on issues that affect the communities they operate in. More often than not, this change is being driven by the newer players in the market, although some major companies have been going in a positive direction for a long time.

Many companies have spoken about the need for a licence to communicate – the credibility to speak on issues that affect communities they operate in. In truth, it has always been needed but seldom applied. Sharing a platform with NGOs and activists to speak about human rights or transparency would have been unthinkable for many companies 20 years ago but, today, it is commonplace. Two decades ago, a small spill or local community dispute could usually be contained without much threat to a company’s licence to operate.

Today, there appears to be agreement that a licence to communicate is being driven by the need for companies to radically rethink their approach to how they do business. My own company’s research, ‘How Africa Tweets’ (<http://www.portland- communications.com/publications/how- africa-tweets-2014/>), was the first study of its kind to look at how social media was changing across the continent, and it showed that societies – particularly young urban populations – were becoming increasingly connected across borders. Without doubt, social media has created powerful new alliances and given civil society a much greater platform. Companies are now scrutinised more than ever before, which means companies can no longer afford to ignore issues such as transparency or human rights.

A seasoned executive from a large extractives company said recently that obtaining a licence to operate now was much more difficult because governments and regulators (the permission givers) required permission themselves (directly or indirectly) from a much larger group of people to whom they are held accountable. This has undoubtedly been driven by a wave of democratisation over the past 20 years. What is needed, argued the executive, is for a company to build a narrative that is credible not only with governments and regulators, but also with people within the communities themselves.

You do not have to go far to find examples of companies and countries starting to do things the right way. In Mozambique, the Country Mining Vision process, designed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and other donors, articulates a vision for how oil and gas fit into the country’s economic development strategy, and has built public understanding through trusted institutions like the church and the media.

After a rocky start in Ghana a decade ago, a number of companies and government have managed to work together to try to promote transparency, avoid corruption, protect human rights and facilitate local content objectives in the supply chain. I witnessed some of the progress myself when travelling through Ghana’s western region back in 2013.

But it is more than just building wells, schools and hospitals. In East Africa, Tullow Oil recently entered into a two-year partnership with the David Astor Journalism Awards Trust to promote, strengthen and support independent journalism in Africa. Nigerian company Seplat’s chairperson, ABC Orjiako, said in an interview last year that he hoped his company could serve as an example to others across the continent. He claims that his local workforce and expertise had led to a massive reduction in theft from oil pipelines in the Delta region.

So, what advice did I give to those attending last month’s Chatham House conference? First and foremost, ensure that communication is a core part of your decision-making process. Obtaining a licence has become much more complex, and this change has been driven partly by the communications revolution. A citizen in the remotest part of the world with a smartphone can now do a better job of holding a multinational to account than any NGO. This has fundamentally changed the way companies and governments operate and communicate with populations.

At a practical level, this means identifying and communicating early with all relevant stakeholders, building partnerships at local level and being open and transparent about your business plans. Secondly, it means ensuring your communication is locally driven and that you use the right channels to engage with your audiences, including social media and mobile technology. Internet access and smartphone ownership has flourished over the past few years, which means companies now have little excuse for not engaging.

The successful development of natural resources involves significant governance, political and macroeconomic challenges. In such unpredictable times, one thing that looks certain is that companies now realise that they must up their game or risk being left behind. This can only be good news for Africa’s next chapter.

Morgan is a senior communications consultant at Portland Communications. He has worked across a number of African countries, including Ghana, Cameroon, Morocco and Tunisia.