African Ministers of Information and Communications have called for collaboration among Media Organisations in the continent.
The Ministers made the call at the ongoing 16th African Union of Broadcasting conference in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire.
They said the areas of collaborations should focus on content sharing and capacity building initiatives through the reporting of Africa from positive perspectives.
The Ministers of Information and Communications are from host country Cote D’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Monsieur Amadou Coulibaly, the Minister of Information and Communications Equatorial Guinea, Manuel D’Ndong, and Bostwana Minister of Information and Communication represented by the Permanent Secretary, Madam Maithlenyane Batsee.
The Prime Minister of Cote D’Ivoire, His Excellency, Sem Robert Bugre Mambe added his contributions on African unity through the soft power of the media.
He said “Africa has a lot of positive stories on morality, cultural renaissance, sports and tourism which can be shared with the world”.
The Cote D’Ivoire Prime Minister said the future of AUB, rests on “a framework of cooperation from continental to intercontinental levels”.
Admission of New Members
During this year’s conference, two new members, China’s National Radio and Television Administration Development Research Center, (NRTA) and the Dubai based Ivory Multimedia production organisation were admitted into the AUB family.
The conference theme is tagged: ‘Developing African Media: What Strategies for a Financial, Technology and Innovative Control Resilience”.
The theme focuses on panel discussions and special projects on broadcasting and digital transition: challenges, innovation and prospects for African audio- visual. Others are: Financial Resilience of Broadcast Media: Anticipate,
Manage and Prosper.
There were discussions on Innovations in Content: Create, Impact and Stand out in a competitive environment.
Discussants were drawn from the public and broadcasters across Africa.
During the session, special projects from the China Media Group, CMG on use of Artificial intelligence, AI, and AUB -UNESCO advocacy and awareness on media and information education were presented to the conference.
The two days conference will end with excursion to historic AI centers in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire.
Pubic and private broadcasting stations as well as faith based media groups, MTA International Africa from over 40 African countries, development partners across Europe and North America attended the annual gathering.
Emmanuel Ukoh