More than 50 delegates take part in first intake of training January 14, 2019, Accra:
The Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa (BMIA) Financial Journalism Training Programme to advance business and financial reporting was launched today in Ghana. More than 50 delegates will take part in the first intake of the training that will be offered in partnership with the University of Ghana Business School and Ghana Institute of Journalism.
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Minister of Information-Ghana, said: “We are pleased that BMIA has launched its financial journalism training programme in Ghana. The Ghanaian economy is becoming increasingly complex, so it is crucial that the Ghanaian press develops accordingly. I am confident that this programme will support continuous progression of the Ghanaian media by exposing them to leading financial journalism experts”.
During the next six months, the delegates will spend 19 days in sessions led by prominent faculty at the two local educational institutions, and will cover topics to strengthen their skills in data analysis, capital markets, accounting, public policy, economics and journalism. They will also get a free subscription to the global data, news and information provided on the Bloomberg Terminal. The Training Programme was previously offered in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa, graduating more than 500 delegates.
The Training Programme is a core component of the BMIA, which aims to contribute in the advancement of African business and financial reporting, recognising the important role the media plays in promoting transparency, accountability and good governance. The BMIA is a project of Bloomberg Philanthropies. The Training Programme in Ghana will also receive support from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.
“We are very excited to see the start of this new phase of the Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa Financial Journalism Training programme. The Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) is proud to partner with Bloomberg in helping equip a global talent pool of journalists with the sort of specialist expertise that can drive them toward 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,” said Andreas Dracopoulos, co-President of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.
Speaking at the programme-launch, Erana Stennett, Director-BMIA said: “We’ve seen the impact the BMIA Financial Journalism Training Programme has had in other markets, so we are very excited to extend the programme to Ghana. We hope the training helps participants navigate the evolving Ghanaian and African economic and business landscape, ultimately furthering the development, quality, accuracy and impact of the financial journalism field in Africa”.
Remarks were also offered by Honorable Minister Ursula Owusu- Ekuful, Minister for Communication-Ghana; Honorable Minister Matthew Opoku-Prempeh, Minister for Education-Ghana; Ms. Elsie Addo Awadzi-Second Deputy-Governor, Bank of Ghana; Professor Joshua Abor, Dean-University of Ghana Business School; Dr. Modestus Fosu, Ag Rector-Ghana Institute of Journalism; Mr. Tim Quashigah, Dean-Ghana Institute of Journalism; and Ms. Christine Mwangi, Secretariat Director-Strathmore Business School.
Topics will include Economics, Financial Markets and Data Analysis. Since its launch, BMIA has reached more than 1,000 stakeholders in Africa, with delegates from 13 countries graduating from the BMIA Financial Journalism Training Programme. BMIA has also sponsored four annual conferences for media owners and senior leaders in business, government and civil society; a Fellowship for editors and senior journalists and a fund to promote community media and citizen journalism. The Ford Foundation has also provided support for some of the activities.
Launched by Mike Bloomberg in South Africa in 2014, the Bloomberg Africa Media Initiative (BMIA) is a pan-Africa programme designed to accelerate development of a globally competitive media and financial reporting industry, as well as promote transparency, accountability and good governance in Africa and beyond. The initiative has four components: It provides cross-disciplinary educational programmes to increase the number of highly-trained business and financial journalists, as well as supports research to stimulate new media innovations, convene international leaders to promote interactive dialogue and build strong relationships to enhance the quality of financial coverage and the availability of reliable and timely data on the continent
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