'Africa is Ready to Work With Willing Partners to Strengthen Information and Sovereignty:' Publisher
20:25 11.10.2026 (Updated: 21:37 11.10.2026)
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'Africa is Ready to Work With Willing Partners to Strengthen Information and Sovereignty,' Says Lesotho Tribune Publisher
The media during COVID wasn't doing enough to inform people, so Lesotho TV was launched at the height of the pandemic in 2021, Phafane Nkotsi told Sputnik Africa on the sidelines of the 2nd Global Digital Forum, noting that the pandemic exposed an open war between the developed and developing worlds over vaccine access.
Local media saw nothing wrong and failed to expose what Nkotsi saw as corruption — that Africans should only get Western vaccines, even when local regulators approved Sputnik, a Russian coronavirus vaccine.
That explained why he launched this media company: Western agencies buy ads in independent media, but the WHO would not advertise in a publication critical of its vaccine approach. He became "a rebel," funding the outlet through his other business — "not an easy feat."
But it paid off: Lesotho Tribune was established in July 2021, and two months later, authorisation to purchase Sputnik was granted, he said.
The challenge in Africa is maintaining independence while at the mercy of those buying media space, Nkotsi said. News should be free, he added, yet good journalism requires payment — it takes real resources to pursue a story.
The upcoming Russia-Africa Summit will be "fruitful" in tackling these long-standing problems, he noted with hope.
The media during COVID wasn't doing enough to inform people, so Lesotho TV was launched at the height of the pandemic in 2021, Phafane Nkotsi told Sputnik Africa on the sidelines of the 2nd Global Digital Forum, noting that the pandemic exposed an open war between the developed and developing worlds over vaccine access.
Local media saw nothing wrong and failed to expose what Nkotsi saw as corruption — that Africans should only get Western vaccines, even when local regulators approved Sputnik, a Russian coronavirus vaccine.
That explained why he launched this media company: Western agencies buy ads in independent media, but the WHO would not advertise in a publication critical of its vaccine approach. He became "a rebel," funding the outlet through his other business — "not an easy feat."
But it paid off: Lesotho Tribune was established in July 2021, and two months later, authorisation to purchase Sputnik was granted, he said.
The challenge in Africa is maintaining independence while at the mercy of those buying media space, Nkotsi said. News should be free, he added, yet good journalism requires payment — it takes real resources to pursue a story.
The upcoming Russia-Africa Summit will be "fruitful" in tackling these long-standing problems, he noted with hope.
