New York, June 24,
GNA – The Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa (BMIA) has announced the expansion
of its Financial Journalism Training (FJT) program to Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire
and Tanzania, joining Ghana and Zambia where training programs were launched earlier
this year.
The first intakes in
Ghana and Zambia are currently underway and have enrolled 91 delegates.
This unique
educational offering will support the advancement of financial journalism and
contribute to economic development on the continent.
A release from BMIA
said the expansion of the training program to five new countries in Africa
follows the success of the program in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa, where
568 delegates from 13 countries have graduated to date.
More than 100
delegates will take part in the first intake of the training in the latest
three countries to offer the program –Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, and Tanzania –
which will be delivered in collaboration with university partners in each
country.
BMIA’s expansion to
Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal will introduce the training program to Francophone
countries for the first time.
Michael R.
Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg L.P. and Bloomberg Philanthropies, said: “Reliable, accessible financial reporting is
critical to driving sustainable economic growth and good governance. The
expansion of the Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa to five new countries will
significantly further our mission to advance financial journalism and
transparency on the continent.”
During the next six
months, the delegates will spend 19 days in interactive sessions led by
prominent faculty at local universities
and will cover topics to strengthen their skills in and understanding of
data analysis, capital markets, accounting, public policy, economics and the
transforming media landscape.
Financial journalism
sessions will be taught by Bloomberg News reporters.
Delegates will also
receive a free, six-month subscription to the Bloomberg Terminal, offering
access to global data, news and analysis.
Partners in Côte
d’Ivoire, Senegal and Tanzania include: Ecole Nationale Supérieure de
Statistique et d’Economie Appliquée d’Abidjan (ENSEA), Université Félix
Houphouët-Boigny, Centre Africain d’Etudes Supérieures en Gestion (CESAG),
Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar Centre d’Etudes des Sciences et Techniques
de l’information (CESTI), University of Dar es Salaam Business School, and the
University of Dar es Salaam School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
“We are very excited
to see the start of this new phase of the Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa
Financial Journalism Training program” said Andreas Dracopoulos, Co-President
of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).
“The Stavros
Niarchos Foundation is proud to partner with Bloomberg in helping equip a
global talent pool of journalists with the sort of specialist expertise that
can propel them towards attaining a high level of professional excellence.
“This is the basis
of a robust, ethical, independent press, which now seems to be more critical
than ever.”
Four intakes of the
interactive, hands-on training program have been delivered in each Kenya,
Nigeria and South Africa over the past three years, resulting in 568 graduates
from 13 countries. Close to 70 per cent of delegates trained were journalists
and representatives of the media.
The Financial
Journalism Training program is a core component of the BMIA, which aims to
contribute to the advancement of business and financial reporting in Africa,
recognizing the important role the media plays in promoting transparency,
accountability and good governance.
The BMIA is a
project of Bloomberg Philanthropies. The
FJT program in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Senegal, Tanzania, and Zambia will also
receive support from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. .
Since its launch in
2014, BMIA has reached more than 1,000 stakeholders in Africa.
BMIA has also
sponsored four annual conferences for media owners and senior leaders in
business, government and civil society, with the most recent taking place in
Livingstone in November, 2018, with 320 leaders representing 25 countries in
attendance.
The program has also
offered a Fellowship for editors and senior journalists, which has been
completed by 45 Fellows and a fund to promote community media and citizen
journalism – the Community Media Fund – which ten organizations have received
grants from in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa.
The Ford Foundation
has been a leading supporter of these programs.
GNA
