Solution Journalism Summit./ PHOTO ' Solution Jornalism Network
Journalists, editors, media innovators, and changemakers from across the continent will gather in Abuja next month for the Solutions Journalism Africa Summit 2025, a landmark event designed to advance evidence-based, solutions-focused storytelling in African media.
Organized by Nigeria Health Watch with support from the Solutions Journalism Network (SJN), the two-day Summit builds on the success of the Solutions Journalism Africa Initiative, which has since 2020 supported over 60 newsrooms and trained hundreds of journalists across Africa.
The Initiative promotes reporting that not only highlights challenges but also investigates how individuals, institutions, and communities are responding to them.
Under the theme “Reframing Africa’s Narratives Through Solutions-Focused Storytelling,” the Summit seeks to strengthen constructive journalism that restores public trust, fosters accountability, and rebalances Africa’s portrayal in both local and global media.
Who Can Attend
The Solutions Journalism Africa Summit 2025 is open to journalists, editors, newsroom leaders, communication professionals, development partners, researchers, and storytellers committed to advancing balanced, impactful media across the continent.
Through networking, collaboration, and skills exchange, the Summit aims to empower participants to adopt and sustain solutions journalism in their work, ultimately reshaping how Africa is seen, reported, and understood.
Key Sessions and Experiences
The 2025 Summit will feature an engaging lineup of plenary and breakout sessions, blending research dissemination, storytelling showcases, and hands-on learning.
Panel Session: Addressing the Gaps in African Journalism –This discussion will bring together participants to examine why negative framing persists across many newsrooms and explore practical ways to integrate solutions journalism into daily reporting without weakening journalism’s accountability role.
Solutions Journalism Research Insight Dissemination – This session will present findings from a new pan-African study conducted ahead of the event, one of the most comprehensive examinations of how solutions journalism is understood, practiced, and received across the continent.
Solutions Journalism Story Labs –Designed as interactive breakout sessions, the Story Labs will give participants hands-on experience in crafting evidence-based stories on stories linked to major African themes, including climate adaptation, social innovation, education, and governance.
Why the Summit Matters
For decades, the dominant narrative about Africa in the media has been framed through crisis — emphasizing poverty, disease, conflict, and governance failures.
While such stories remain important, organizers argue that they provide only half the picture.
The Summit, therefore, aims to inspire reporting that pairs scrutiny with evidence of progress, innovation, and resilience.
Solutions journalism investigates credible responses to problems and evaluates their effectiveness.
This approach, advocates say, strengthens journalism’s watchdog role by focusing on impact and holding both successes and failures to account.
By gathering journalists, editors, media trainers, and policymakers, the Summit will provide a shared platform to explore how African newsrooms can institutionalize solutions-focused practices despite funding, time, and editorial constraints.
For participation details, registration, and program updates, visit Nigeria Health Watch’s official platforms or follow the conversation via #SoJoAfricaSummit2025. To register click
About the Organisers
Nigeria Health Watch
Nigeria Health Watch is a health communication and advocacy organisation that uses evidence-based journalism to influence policy and improve accountability in Nigeria’s health sector.
Through its platform, Abuja Health Watch, it promotes informed public dialogue and convenes key conversations that link media, government, and civil society around health reforms.
Solutions Journalism Network (SJN)
The Solutions Journalism Network is a global non-profit based in New York dedicated to strengthening journalism that investigates how people and institutions respond to social problems.
Since 2013, SJN has partnered with hundreds of newsrooms worldwide and supports the Solutions Journalism Africa Initiative, which has trained and funded journalists across the continent to tell rigorous, solutions-focused stories.
