Kenya’s Gina Din made her name as the founder of Gina Din Group, a public relations (PR) and communications firm with clients across Africa. She has worked with major African brands including Old Mutual; the Association of Kenyan Insurers; CIC Insurance; Kenya Commercial Bank; Safaricom; Kenya Red Cross, Kenya Airways and Barclays Bank. Following the acquisition in 2020 of the Gina Din Group by global giant Edelman she now leads the African division of Edelman’s global public relations team representing several major corporates.
Her experience in the PR industry is, however, not the theme of her latest book, Beyond the Ballot. Rather, it is a collection of arguments regarding the critical importance of leadership and communication. She contributes a number of chapters herself and invites others to reflect on the continent’s challenges. These contributions include a short introduction by Jakaya Kikwete, former president of Tanzania.
Other interesting contributors to Beyond the Ballot include Wale Akinyemi, founder of consultancy Street Hub; Mercy Mwangangi, chief executive of Kenya’s Social Health Authority; Frank Njenga, founder of Chiromo Hospital in Nairobi; Edgar Githua, a professor in international relations at Strathmore University in Nairobi; Onkgopotse Tabane, professor of communications at the University of South Africa; Matt Aikhionbare, a principal aide to three Nigerian presidents; and Thebe Ikalafeng, founder of the Brand Leadership Group. This range of contributors brings a breadth of insight. It also means that Beyond the Ballot becomes a series of disconnected bullet points rather than a flowing narrative.
Throughout, Din quotes proverbs as well as business, academic and political leaders. At the heart of it all is her abiding interest in communications. Themes include “reframing Africa’s narrative”, “communication as leadership”, and “navigating the new information age”.
An essay by Moky Makura, executive director of Africa No Filter, takes a typically strident view of the way Africa, and all things African, are portrayed in the mainstream media. Makura despairs at the narrative of a broken continent. She stresses, firstly, the necessity of being deliberate about the story Africa wants to tell; secondly, the need for many stories presented in different genres such as film, poetry and journalism; and thirdly, the need for sustainable financing for storytelling.
Communications must support outcomes
Still, as Gina Din points out in her opening essay, not all communications must be an exercise in simply manufacturing good PR – it must support positive outcomes for Africans.
“Africa does not need leaders who rely on slogans. It needs leaders who can explain difficult choices, confront uncomfortable truths and bring citizens into the national project,” she writes.
The book does have blind spots. For example Din and Thebe Ikalafeng headline their chapter on Rwanda “A masterclass in post-conflict nation building and strategic communications”.
While no one can question the extraordinary achievement of emerging from the horrific 1994 genocide, there are very serious concerns regarding the autocratic tendencies of Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame – which he justifies as being necessary in tackling the country’s challenges. But in a demonstration of the Kagame government’s communications success – ironically in this context – these matters are largely overlooked.
Nevertheless, this is a book that tackles issues that cover the continent’s need for quality leadership – and new strategies to help them communicate their goals and challenges to the world at large.
As Din writes: “The Africa I imagine… speaks with confidence on the global stage, not as a recipient of charity but as a partner shaping solutions. And it will only be built by leaders who can communicate with clarity, govern with integrity and secure a future that outlasts them.”
Beyond the Ballot: clear communication. effective leadership. a stronger Africa
By Gina Din
£18.60 / 3,500 shillings LawAfrica (Kenya)
ISBN 9789966531230