A few weeks ago, someone shared how she went searching for a new product to add to her skincare routine. Instead of heading to a traditional search engine, she asked a generative AI assistant for a recommendation. The answer came back quickly, confidently and seemingly perfectly matched to her needs. But she didn't buy it.
At the start of 2026, Cannes Lions wasn’t actually part of the plan. It was going to be an incredibly busy few months, with our inaugural Women in Marketing Africa Real Talk Debate in Nairobi falling in the same month as Cannes Lions. I had almost decided to skip this year’s festival. There was plenty happening across the continent and, like many professionals, I was weighing up whether another trip to Cannes would deliver enough value. Looking back now, I’m incredibly glad I went.
For years, the marketing industry has celebrated progress in how Africa is represented in global advertising. More African faces appear on screens. More campaigns reference African culture. More brands speak the language of inclusion, diversity and localisation. Yet a question posed during the recent Women in Marketing Africa Real Talk Debate in Nairobi challenged the industry to look deeper: "Are global brands truly committed to authentic African representation?"
On 11 June, senior leaders from brands, agencies, media, communications and business will gather in Nairobi for the latest edition of the WiM Africa Real Talk Debate Series. The motion: Are global brands truly committed to authentic African representation? It is a question that feels increasingly relevant at a time when Africa’s influence on global culture, creativity and commerce continues to grow, yet questions around ownership, authenticity and representation remain unresolved.
AI has levelled the playing field. The same tools available to a marketing team in London or New York are available to you in Accra, Lagos, or Nairobi. You can generate a campaign brief in minutes. Produce social copy in seconds. Build a landing page before lunch. Analyse your audience data without waiting for a research report. It sounds like liberation. And in some ways, it genuinely is. But the playing field is not flat. It never was. And understanding exactly why is where your real advantage lives.
Last month, we announced the five women selected for the WiM Africa Cannes Lions ERA Pass 2026 programme. Since then, we held our first group call with the cohort — and it was exactly the kind of conversation that reminds us why this initiative matters. There was excitement, honesty, a little bit of screaming, and a lot of intention.
Across Africa, markets are growing fast—but attention is not. Whether you are in Nairobi, Lagos, Accra, or Johannesburg, the reality is the same: customers have more choice than ever before, but less patience for brands that don’t feel relevant. Two businesses can offer the same product, at the same price, with similar distribution. Yet one scales. The other struggles. The difference is not visibility. It has meaning. Because in today’s African market, brands don’t win because they are present. They win because they are understood—and trusted.
When we opened applications for the 2026 Women in Marketing (WiM) Africa Cannes Lions ERA Pass, we knew the bar would be high — but even we were taken aback by the response. We received over five times the number of entries compared to last year, with submissions coming in from across the continent. The quality, thoughtfulness and ambition in each video was genuinely inspiring. It was a powerful reminder of just how much talent exists across Africa — and how important it is that more of it is seen on global stages like Cannes Lions.
By Andrea Djan-Krofa, CEO - Women in Marketing Africa; Director - Women in Marketing Global. I want to start by giving credit where it’s due. Kudos to Brand Africa and its partners for curating and launching the inaugural ACMO 100. I think it’s a strong and timely initiative, and an important way of recognising the marketing leaders helping to shape some of Africa’s most influential brands.
Last week, marketing, advertising and creative industry leaders gathered in London for the inaugural IAA COMPASS: Africa Summit — a new platform bringing together voices from across Africa, the UK and the diaspora to explore the future of African brands and markets. Hosted by the International Advertising Association UK in collaboration with Women in Marketing Africa...