Storytelling shapes our understanding of the world and each other. It’s powerful. This power demands care.
Recentred Africa exists because we reached a limit.
A limit with narratives that flatten complexity. A limit with stories about Africa that prioritise spectacle over agency. A limit with processes that extract, simplify, and move on.
We see how often storytelling was done to people rather than with them. How easily good intentions produce harmful outcomes. How rarely dignity is treated as non-negotiable.
This is less a creative gap, more an ethical one.
Recentred Africa was born from a shared conviction that another way was possible, and necessary.
A way rooted in curiosity, rather than assumption.
In listening, rather than rushing.
In collaboration, rather than control.
Not because stories should be softer, but because they should be truer.
what we stand for
We are a studio and research practice working across the African continent. We create visual, written and audio narratives that honour context, complexity and lived experience.
But more importantly, we are intentional about how those stories come into being.
We believe:
stories carry power,
process determines whether that power harms or heals,
curiosity, when disciplined, leads to better questions and better outcomes.
This belief shapes every project we accept and every partnership we form.
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how we choose to work
We don’t arrive with pre-written conclusions. We don’t chase urgency at the expense of care. We don’t separate craft from responsibility.
Instead, we practise listening deeply, gathering collaboratively, and weaving narratives with intention. This isn’t merely a branding statement. This is how we hold ourselves accountable.
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who we choose to work with
We collaborate with organisations, communities and institutions who value depth, respect nuance, and understand that meaningful storytelling takes time.
We are not interested in being a vendor. We aim to be facilitators in understanding.
If a project demands shortcuts, simplification or extraction, we will politely step away. That boundary protects the work and, more importantly, the people within it.
