Motshegoa's main point hit home for attendees as it's something that's already part of our sub-conscience, but something we all need to be reminded of now and then: Africans are the number one storytellers of African stories.

We live this truth each day as we laugh, sing and dance – and it extends back in history to when we drew on cave walls to mark our stories, continuing as we paint our faces to express our beauty and our innovation in the food we create.

As you listen to the stories around though, Motshegoa says to consider where you stand in the creative conversation.

At DStv, she says the creativity lies in the ads as well as the content.

For example, Channel O was the first South African channel created specifically to highlight South African music.

M-Net gives a platform for expression of local flavours, while Mzanzi Magic articulates local stories in a way that changes the game and gives birth to a new style of creative expression.

Motshegoa adds that there’s nothing more exciting than to acknowledge and endorse creativity in all its forms and to stop negative comparisons.

As Africans, we are no longer swimming with sharks, we are the sharks.

That ties in with the Loeries philosophy:

It’s not just an award. It’s about recognising creative brilliance. Making you and me feel something, question and rethink our ways of doing. It’s about telling better stories. Stories that provoke conversation. Challenge traditions. End stereotypes. Celebrate humanity. Tear racial divides. Embrace culture. And change the world.

As Africans, we need to remember that we are the ones we have been waiting for.

Take that responsibility and run with it!