#BeyondThisLand: Rewriting the narrative of disability sports in Africa through digital empowerment

The video opens with stunning travel imagery from across Africa, showcasing landscapes and wildlife. Gradually, subtle action shots of African Paralympic athletes are interwoven. As the music and poetry intensify, the pace of the visuals quickens showing grit, determination and celebration. The video closes by revisiting the travel scenes and climaxes with the words 'Beyond This Land' in bold white letters, filling the screen.

#BeyondThisLand digital campaign is rewriting the narrative of disability sports in Africa. By partnering with digital influencers across the continent, this campaign creates visually compelling stories that showcase African Paralympic athletes in a new light—one of strength, talent, and ambition. It’s a strategic move aimed at shifting perceptions and breaking free from the charity-driven lens that has long dominated the continent’s view of disability sports. This innovative approach comes at a crucial time. Despite its immense potential, Africa remains the least engaged continent in disability sports, with outdated narratives still prevailing. While much of the world is shifting its view of disability sports from mere participatory events to arenas of fierce competition, Africa continues to be dominated by development initiatives and charity-based perspectives. The powerful message of disability sports often remains trapped within familiar "sports for development" circles, echoing only among those already convinced of its significance. This echo chamber reinforces a narrow view, validating those within it rather than challenging outdated norms. Though well-intentioned, the prevailing narrative of inspiration and charity risks perpetuating antiquated views of disability. 
 
The #BeyondThisLand campaign seeks to challenge that by utilizing the unique potential of digital platforms in Africa. With over 500 million mobile subscribers and rapidly growing internet penetration, Africa spaces are uniquely positioned to harness the power of digital tools to reimagine disability sports. The campaign enlists digital influencers from diverse online communities to create visually compelling content featuring Para athletes. Through the power of storytelling, it aims to engage new audiences and inspire broader dialogue around disability sports. This approach is African-led and is utilizing social listening and audience research to tailor content that resonates with local cultural contexts and values. By understanding how different audiences engage with disability sports content, the campaign refines its messaging to reach more people and connect on a deeper level. 

In the campaign's initial phase, it collaborated with Oscar Ogero (Gufy) an African poet and a travel influencer to test its approach on a micro-scale. They developed a one-minute storytelling ad that combined narration and visuals familiar to their audience, seamlessly incorporating footage of African Paralympic athletes. This strategy employs a dual method: engaging direct audiences with alternative visuals, while influencing the algorithms that curate their feeds. By launching the campaign during a peak global discussion around the Paralympics, the team aimed to optimize its reach. Increased engagement enhances content visibility and amplifies its impact, as viewers interacting with and sharing the content influence their networks.  

Consider the Olympics—a global spectacle that captivates audiences beyond sports enthusiasts. Many viewers are not actively seeking sports content, yet they are drawn in by the diversity of narratives it offers. Stories of Black and ethnic minority athletes breaking barriers, refugee athletes competing under the Olympic flag, women balancing motherhood and elite competition, and athletes navigating complex intersections of identity, culture, and ability bring diverse audiences into the fold. This is the power of social media and data-driven engagement: it reaches beyond traditional sports fans, making the conversation accessible. The algorithms driving these platforms are designed to maximize engagement, drawing in audiences through their varied interests—whether they relate to race, gender, migration, or social justice—and keeping them captivated by the unfolding event. We can, therefore, leverage the same algorithms and engagement strategies that have made global sporting events like the Olympics trend across diverse demographics to change the narrative around disability sports. 

If visual storytelling has been recognized in marketing for its ability to shift mindsets and influence consumer behavior, Why can't this approach be applied to social impact? For disability sports, the challenge is not just about increasing visibility but also about changing the nature of that visibility. Imagine a world where the dominant image of a person with a disability is not one of neediness or dependence but of strength, talent, and ambition. This is the vision of the #BeyondThisLand campaign, which can be realized through a strategic, data-driven approach to social media engagement.  

To alter perceptions of disability sports and reshape the entire disability discourse in Africa, we as players in the sport for development industry need first to reimagine where and how these stories are communicated.  

About the project 

The #BeyondThisLand campaign has been a collaboration with the Malawi Paralympic Committee and the African Union Sports Council Region 5. This initiative is supported by the University of Malawi and Loughborough University as part of the second phase of the AT2030 Para Sport Against Stigma project. AT2030, funded by UK Aid and led by the Global Disability Innovation Hub is dedicated to testing effective strategies for improving access to Assistive Technology.  

Phase one of the Para Sport Against Stigma project (2020-2024) was a collaborative effort involving Loughborough University, the International Paralympic Committee, and the University of Malawi. Research conducted during the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics in Malawi revealed that the event evoked powerful emotions like joy, amazement, and hope—emotions that directly challenge the fear, pity, and prejudice often at the root of stigma. By localizing Para sport coverage and storytelling, we can foster deeper engagement and amplify the positive impact. 

Authors 

Sheila Cleo Mogalo  is a Pan-African sport-for-development consultant having driven initiatives in collaboration with organizations like IPC, BWF, and UNOSDP. Currently consulting for Loughborough University for the AT2030 Para Sport Against Stigma project. 

Kritika Naidu is a sports journalist. Her expertise is in writing, content strategy and social media. 

Jennie Wong works in research development and impact at Loughborough University (London), with an interest in projects that explore intersectionality of disability, gender and race equity in sport and innovation.