Reuters in Africa

Today, Reuters launched its new website, Reuters Africa, which as Reuters Africa editor John Chiahemen told The Guardian, hopes "to show that Africa can be covered as a business story, not just a disaster story."

Is it just me, or does this seem like another sign there's a paradigm shift in the making?

Africa=business=cool (for the moment).  Rebecca MacKinnon wonders if this has anything to do with China's very different perspective of the continent.  (Yes I know, I often write as though China is the center of the universe, but for me right now, it quite literally is.)

Whether it's Chinese investment or several Africa countries' record-breaking growth, the mainstream media appears to be standing up and taking notice.  More and more people are look at Africa as a business opportunity, and they will need the same quality and speed of information when they are investing in Nigeria or Cameroun as they do when they are investing in Singapore or Japan.  Okay, okay.  I admit that for a number of reasons, we're obviously not there yet; but this is an important first step.

This announcement is also incredibly exciting for the continent's bloggers.  Each country page features the latest from bloggers (or at least for the moment, those blog posts highlighted by Global Voices).  So click on Guinea, for example, and there's a link to a roundup I wrote the other week on various African bloggers' opinions on the showdown between Lansana Conte and the unions.  Click on Nigeria and there's a link to a blog post about US Marines in the Niger Delta selected by Ndesanjo, GV's Africa editor, and written by Sokari on her blog, Black Looks.

Why is this so important?  Rachel Rawlins, Co-Managing Editor for Global Voices and a former correspondent in Africa for the BBC explains:

"We hope that the involvement of bloggers in projects such as this not only gives a platform to those whose voices have long been left unheard but also encourages others to join the conversation and brings pressure to bear on behalf of those who want to speak but cannot."

Although there are vibrant blogospheres in places like NIgeria or the Congo (in fact, anywhere, it seems, where there are also sizeable, active expat communities), in many places they are simply nonexistent.  Rachel also talks about internet censorship stifling blogospheres in Zimbabwe and Ethiopia, but across the continent the silence is explained by a much more pervasive challenge: the simple lack of access and skills.

So if anyone out there is reading this post, I hope it's a reminder that there are people out there listening and what you write can make a difference.  Please, get your friends writing.  I cannot tell you how many of my favorite bloggers picked up the proverbial pen with a little nudge from a friend.  (I know I did.) 

There is nothing that's going to dispel all of those simplistic stereotypes about Africa - stereotypes that I know parade rampant in the heads of almost everyone I meet - until more Africans speak in their own voices, become the gatherers and interpreters of their own experiences.

For more info on the new site, here is the Reuters press release in full (and just, you know, for full disclosure, Reuters is a major funder of Global Voices):

 

Thursday 22 February 2007
 

 

LAUNCH OF REUTERS AFRICA –

 

A NEW PAN-AFRICAN NEWS AND FINANCIAL DATA WEBSITE

 

 

London – Reuters (LSE: RTR.L; Nasdaq: RTRSY), the global news and information company, today announced the launch of Reuters Africa -- a new commercial website dedicated to pan-African news and financial data.
 

 

Reuters Africa,  HYPERLINK "http://www.reuters.com/africa" www.reuters.com/africa, showcases Reuters extensive coverage of the continent and offers breaking news, in-depth features and financial information from across Africa.  HSBC has joined Reuters as the exclusive launch advertiser. 
 

 

The launch of Reuters Africa supports Reuters commitment to cover Africa in detail and from all angles, to give a wider sense of the issues and their contexts, and to explore the individual countries and cultures. Reuters Africa will target both those living on the continent, and anyone globally who follows African development, investment and news.
 

 

John Chiahemen has been named the editor of Reuters Africa. Chiahemen, who has over 25 years of experience with Reuters covering the continent, was previously Reuters chief correspondent in southern Africa. Chiahemen will use his extensive knowledge of the continent to build out the site and develop its content over the coming months. 
 

 

Reuters Africa features an interactive map to access local Reuters news across the continent, organized by country.   HYPERLINK "http://www.reuters.com" Reuters Africa also provides extensive economic, business and financial news and data, including stock and currency market data and company information, from around the continent. Reflecting the importance of commodities to many African economies, the site features exclusive online content on metals and mining, energy and oil, and agricultural commodities.
 

 

As part of Reuters continuing efforts to incorporate a wider set of voices and commentary into its news content, the site will incorporate country-specific blogs via GlobalVoices, the international network of bloggers coordinated through the Berkman Center at Harvard University.  In addition, links to Reuters AlertNet, a project of the Reuters Foundation, are integrated across the site, providing the latest news, images and insight from the world's disasters and conflicts.
 

 

John Chiahemen, editor of Reuters Africa, said, “Reuters Africa will be an essential source for news as Africa becomes more integrated into the global economy.  As multi-national corporations continue to expand their presence on the continent, they increasingly need up-to-date and reliable commodities, economic, political and general news.  Our goal is to be the leading online source for African news for both Africans and for the world.” 
 

 

Geert Linnebank, Reuters Foundation Chairman, who coordinated work on the site, said, “Africa is changing fast. And people- in politics, business, or simply as travellers or interested citizens- can no longer afford to ignore what’s going on across the continent. Reuters journalists have chronicled Africa since the late 19^th century, reporting news first hand. Now, Reuters comprehensive coverage of the continent can be found on a dedicated site along with a forum for readers and local bloggers to contribute to the discussion as well.”

Comments

[Bill]

Africa Media blog has just published a writeup about this new service from Reuters that you may want to read. It is an excellent move by Reuters and the GVO team deserves a lot of credit for convincing this renowned financial services company and international news network to give it a go. Unfortunately I have not had a chance to follow the GVO blogfeeds at Reuters Africa since its launch in February but I did add a link to this new service in my blogroll.

I raised some heated questions (and debate) at GVO concerning a particular blog feed headline that implied that U.S. Marines were stalking rebels in the Niger Delta. Actually I raised Holy H*** about that misleading and potentially dangerous post. My complaint was handled internally though and without a major public exposure incident. Everyone at GVO shall be watching the citizen news flow to Reuters more carefully in the future (I hope). Any major screwup that could cause Reuters and/or GVO serious legal headaches and the GVO blogfeed service dies on the spot.

Here's the URL to the Africa Media blog post:
Giving Reuters the Business - 04/07/07
http://africamedia.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/04/reuters_has_lau.html

P.S. I have invited the author of the Africa Media blog to join our Hibiscus Project dicussion group. I think that she would be a great addition to the group, don't you?

[Jennifer Brea]

Hi Bill. Sorry to take so long to write back. I did not hear about the U.S. Marines & the Niger Delta story. Do you have a link? Or do you remember the headline?

I'm sure it would be fine to invite the author of the Africa Media blog to join the Hibiscus group. Unfortunately the project is back in another limbo. Hope we can nudge it out soon!