Month: May 2025
Business Insider Africa, published by Pulse, has been awarded Best in “Leading Social-First Business Journalism in Africa” at the 2025 International News Media Association (INMA) Global Media Awards. The announcement was made during the Global Media Awards ceremony held on May 22 at the Edison Ballroom in New York City, as part of the 95th Annual INMA World Congress of News Media.
Business Insider Africa also received an honourable mention in the “Best Use of Social Media” (National Brands) category, placing it among the world’s leading innovators in platform-native journalism.
The award-winning initiative transformed how Business Insider Africa shares business news, using TikTok to connect with a new generation of African audiences. By combining strong storytelling with engaging visuals, the brand made complex topics easier to understand and more appealing to younger, mobile-first viewers—dramatically increasing reach and deepening engagement across the platform.
In 2024, the campaign delivered:
- 85.5 million video views, up from 6 million in 2023
- A 999% increase in TikTok reach, from 4.3 million to 73 million
- A 62% growth in followers, from 180,000 to 291,000
“When we started out, our goal was to make high-quality business journalism resonate on the world’s fastest-moving video platform: TikTok,” said Victor Oluwole, Head and Editor at Business Insider Africa. “This award is a testament to the team’s creativity, innovation, and commitment to telling African business stories in formats that meet audiences where they are. We’re proud to be leading the evolution of business journalism for Africa’s next generation of readers.”
The INMA Global Media Awards celebrate excellence in innovation across news brands worldwide. The 2025 edition received 839 entries from 286 organisations across 49 countries.
About Business Insider Africa
Business Insider Africa is the leading pan-African innovative business news provider targeting aspirational business leaders and featuring the latest innovation, technology and business news from Africa. It runs all the global Business Insider content alongside Africa-focused interviews, data and more.
Business Insider Africa re-launched as a pan-African innovative business news provider in August 2020, in partnership with Pulse, Africa’s leading innovative media company. Since its full launch, Business Insider Africa has attained relevance across the continent through insightful and timely business coverage in the continent’s major markets, with a specific focus on interviews, listicles, entrepreneurship, and a range of general interest topics including entertainment and lifestyle.
About Pulse
Pulse is Africa’s leading innovative media company, informing and engaging the continent’s young audience across Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Senegal, and Côte d’Ivoire. Pulse operates news platforms, social channels, and production units across both Anglophone and Francophone markets.
Pulse reaches over 60 million people monthly through Pulse Media, Pulse Sports, Pulse Marketing, and Business Insider Africa. Pulse Marketing serves more than 100 clients across the continent and beyond with creative, strategy-driven digital marketing solutions that deliver measurable results. The company is also the licensed publisher of Business Insider Africa, a premier destination for business and economic insights tailored to Africa’s digital audience.
The company has built a vibrant ecosystem through flagship initiatives like the Pulse Influencer Awards and Pulse Fiesta, celebrating creativity, culture, and community.
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Rethinking the News Media Ecosystem: Lessons from the INMA Global CEO Panel
At the 2025 INMA World Congress of News Media in New York, global media leaders gathered to explore how technology, innovation, and culture are reshaping the news ecosystem.
Katharina Link, CEO of Pulse Africa, joined Dr. Rainer Esser (CEO, Die Zeit) and Jessica Peppel-Schulz (CEO, Tamedia) on the Global CEO Panel to discuss what it takes to lead modern newsrooms — and why the future belongs to brands that are bold, agile, and audience-first.
Human-Centered Leadership and Culture-Driven Change
Dr. Esser of Die Zeit emphasised transformation through relationships and a growth-first mindset. From riding elevators to personally connecting with staff to pushing over 100 brand extensions, his “no loss” philosophy rejects failure in favour of momentum.
For Peppel-Schulz, successful transformation at Tamedia starts with mindset: “Nothing works without people willing to change.” By starting projects with small teams and building trust through visible wins, Tamedia is fostering cultural shifts to embrace innovation at scale.
Pulse Africa: A Vision Built on Innovation and Creativity
Representing Africa’s largest digital media network (as recognised by INMA), Katharina Link spotlighted how Pulse is blending brand DNA, emerging technologies, and youth culture to evolve its storytelling.
From leveraging AI to optimise content planning, translations, and interview research to pioneering digital twins — AI-generated journalist avatars that mimic voice and style — Pulse is exploring how AI can extend newsroom capacity while keeping editorial control in human hands.
AI as a Catalyst, Not a Replacement
Katharina outlined how Pulse is strategically using AI to enhance, not replace, human creativity in the newsroom. From preparing interviews and translating content across languages to optimising editorial workflows, AI is helping teams move with greater speed and precision.
One of the most groundbreaking projects is the launch of digital twins — AI-powered avatars of Pulse journalists that mimic their voice, tone, and on-screen presence.
“What matters most is ownership. Our journalists retain full control of their digital twin. It’s not just a productivity tool — it’s an extension of their professional identity. Journalists have complete ownership of their digital twin; if they leave the company, that digital twin can no longer be used,” Link assured.
She also discussed Pulse’s rollout of the “transcreator” model, a hybrid editorial-creative function designed to adapt long-form journalism into platform-first content for social media — enabling deeper storytelling with broader reach.
She also shared Pulse’s push into platform-native formats like TikTok and Instagram Reels, reaffirming the brand’s commitment to engaging Africa’s young, mobile-first audiences through immersive and relevant storytelling.
Together, the panel reflected on the role of AI as a general-purpose technology — one that will deeply influence media, economies, and society at large. But transformation, they agreed, must always begin with people.
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