Online Reporter
Gibson Nyikadzino-Zimpapers Politics Hub
IN Africa, studies show that radio is “overwhelmingly the most common source for news” for the people.
A 2024 continental survey of news audiences by Afrobarometer suggested that 68 percent of Africans sourced their news from the radio on a daily basis, translating to at least 952 million people.
From these statistics, in the current state, nothing beats radio as a source of news, despite the same Afrobarometer report noting that approximately 47 percent of Africans consume news or information via the internet or social media at least a few times a week.
In Africa, there is a rapid growth in internet usage, though it remains below the global average of 68 percent. Radio in Africa has the widest geographical reach and the greatest audience compared with the internet.
However, this year’s World Radio Day commemorations on February 13 came as discussions about the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the radio industry are dominating, rather than the need to increase the reach of radio in Africa.
World Radio Day this year ran under the theme “Radio and Artificial Intelligence” and anchored on the slogan “AI is a tool, not a voice”. Efforts have to be made to go beyond a mere slogan and locate it within the context of radio and journalism ethics, as well as determine where AI adoption starts and ends.
This new dynamic, being adopted with speed, well-marketed and spoken about eloquently, makes AI, in some way, an elitist discourse that is being imposed on the greater audience majority who are yet to fully comprehend what it is and how it functions.
The reactions of governments to the AI boom are also telling a different story. Governments and international bodies have moved in a framework of action on how this new phenomenon can be regulated, and at times, addressed. To governments the world over, AI is posing huge risks in all industries.
Understanding AI in radio
There are many contestations in the understanding of what constitutes AI and what it is. To some, AI is considered a technology that enables computers and machines to simulate human learning, comprehension, problem-solving and decision-making.
Others see AI as the study of agents that receive percepts from the environment and perform actions.
However, on a greater understanding of it, AI now appears to be a lexicon for marketing with distinctions from the standard appreciation of computational techniques and architectures.
It has become more of an economic bubble and a magic wand that is either being used or abused by entrepreneurs to attract start-up capital for unconvincing programme outlines.
This is what the radio industry is awaiting or undergoing. This has a bearing on the traditional understanding of radio programming and presentation, as well as understanding the audience interests, which are likely to be further fragmented between those who are tech-induced and those who are cautious of traditional ways of radio broadcasting.
There is also the aspect of AI applications that are commercially determined and driven to be fully functional. Thus, this has an impact on community radios that are not in any way commercially driven, nor do they have commercial interests in the news business as legislated by law in several African countries.
While coming up with themes and adopting modern technologies is ideal, however, the what many are not finding time to break down is that AI is proving to be an elitist discourse, whose benefits are just being thrown in the air without the key intent to ask the ordinary people if they really understand what it is about. Not everyone is as innovative in the adoption of AI, and not every society is as keen to adopt AI.
Widening tech, digital divide
AI is widening the global technology divide. It is a marginalising factor at a time when Africa, in particular, is grappling with addressing the digital divide. Most of the AI tools used in radio are digitally driven and internet-based. Some irrationalities can, however, be seen in the logic of AI in the radio industry, specifically, and in general.
The geographical reach of radio in Africa is still not considered a full cycle, yet at the time of this deficiency, AI tools are suggested for Africa to make use of when the continent has one of the biggest digital divides.
A 2025 report by the International Telecommunication Union and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation showed that only 1,2 percent of Africans currently have access to 5G networks compared with a global average of more than 20 percent.
While Africa has made strong progress in mobile connectivity, the newest wireless technology remains largely out of reach for the continent’s 1,4 billion inhabitants, a sign that the continent remains at an early stage in accessing next-generation mobile technology.
What it shows is that those who make global decisions at a high level in the context of radio and AI (even on the assumption that AI is a tool) are somehow detached from development trends, infrastructure architectures and the interests of the people who happen to be audiences.
Disempowering factor?
There are mixed reactions when it comes to AI adoption and use in any sector. It is not only in the radio or broadcast industry that AI is likely to be adopted, but its influence is creeping into many industries. In some way, based on the growing calls for its adoption in radio, there is room for people or audiences to see that what is happening reflects the potential of the owners and controllers of AI to degrade and disempower the rest of the people.
There are pitfalls that are going to be encountered by the adoption of these technologies sold as AI. Some are set to benefit and progress, while some are set to be marginalised in the process of AI use. For the greater Africa, mechanisms also have to be found to minimally adopt these technologies to maintain a sincere progress of the industry in reasonable ways.
