Media Pilot Schemes

Press Release—Organizers of the annual Africa’s International Media Summit have agreed to implement three pilot schemes that will deploy the productive energy and creativity of African youths towards improving the image of the continent as part of the process of “Rebranding Africa.”

The schemes, to be implemented in and with the collaboration of governments of Ghana, Nigeria and Tunisia, will involve the implementation of activities and programmes that will harness the potentials of African youths, who constitute about half of the population. These will contribute towards promoting the professional fulfillment of the youths, ensuring the development of their countries and ultimately realizing the full potentials of the continent.

This was one of the outcomes of the third Africa’s Media Summit which ended in Tunis on Monday, 31st March 2008 and which explored the “Youth Role in Branding Africa,” a theme that was inspired by the African Union’s declaration of 2008 as the” Year of the African Youth.”

The media summit, whose first edition was hosted in Ghana in 2007, followed by Nigeria in 2007, provides a forum for deliberating on measures for redressing the negative image of Africa in the international media as a continent whose realities are confined to crises, natural disasters and other negative developments.

The 2008 edition, which was organized mainly through the collaboration of ECOWAS, the African Union and the African Development Bank (ADB) and the African Communication Agency (ACA) examined the issues of training and capacity development, improving youth capacity in media literacy as well as the dissemination opportunities for youth-focused products.

There were also presentations on how commercial broadcasting can partner with development agencies to contribute to improving Africa’s visibility and the role young people in the African media can play in this rebranding process.

Eight people were honoured during the African Living Legends banquet organized as part of the summit including Madam Xernoma Clayton, an African-American from the US Diaspora who worked with late Martin Luther King. She was honoured for her role in improving the visibility of the continent in the US media.

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