The diffusion of the concept of ‘the Global South’ in the press: the case of Africa

An analysis of the major national daily newspapers and news agencies shows extraordinary growth in the use of the terms ‘Global South’ and ‘Global North’ in news published by newspapers in Latin America, Africa and Asia between 2019 and 2014. However, this is a recent trend, except in the case of the press in English-speaking African countries, where the replacement of the term ‘Third World’ by ‘Global South’ took place gradually between 1995 and 2024, in parallel with the evolution of academic debate in the English-speaking world. A content analysis of English-language publications by the AllAfrica news agency using the term ‘Global South’ highlights the richness of the debates and their contributions to the formation of a regional public space and a new international order. But an analysis of the recent development of the concept suggests that big differences remain associated with the language of publication of newspapers in Africa (English, French, Portuguese, Arabic)