TWO PERSPECTIVES FROM THE FIELD

The authors

Journalism, digital strategy and work with the United Nations meet in an investigation rooted in African information environments.

Ekedi Kotto Maka

Digital strategy, narrative analysis and capacity-building in the DRC

Ekedi Kotto Maka’s experience spans Canada, France and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She worked in digital production and led content strategy and interactive-media work at Groupe Média TFO in Canada, then worked in communications agencies and independent consulting on reputation, crisis communication and influence in France (2015–2023).

In 2023, she led capacity-building for MONUSCO, the UN mission in the DRC, on monitoring and analysing hostile narratives. That field experience connects digital strategy with the practical challenges of recognising and responding to information manipulation in African conflict settings.

Since 2025, she has led Rectifa, specialising in information strategy, training and support. She holds a bachelor’s degree with a major in political science from the Université de Montréal and an MBA in E-Business from MBA ESG in France.

André-Michel Essoungou

Reporting African conflicts, then building responses to hostile narratives

A journalist and foreign correspondent for RFI and the BBC, André-Michel Essoungou worked in Canada, the United States, Tanzania, Uganda and Switzerland. A regular contributor to Le Monde diplomatique, he has also been published in The New York Times and Libération. His reporting on African politics and conflicts gave him sustained experience of how events on the ground are turned into public narratives.

At the United Nations (2009–2026), he served as a communications adviser and political adviser. In 2021, he initiated work in the Department of Peace Operations on monitoring, analysing and responding to hostile narratives targeting peacekeepers, contributing to policy frameworks, strategies and teams in missions. These efforts received a UN Secretary-General’s Award in 2025.

Since February 2026, he has been a strategic adviser at Rectifa. He holds a master’s degree in political science from the University of Geneva and is the author of Justice à Arusha (L’Harmattan, 2006) and Echoes of Empire (Tila, 2026). His work on digital manipulation and influence in Africa is also cited in this book’s bibliography.

Biographies adapted from the book’s author notes, printed pp. 113–114.

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