A new voice for Africa
WE ARE back. The editors of West Africa magazine, that is. We are back with a new and exciting media project for Africa – Africa Week. We have been forced to make this move because the owners of West Africa magazine have managed to achieve what the apartheid regime could not achieve in the 1970s – that is, shut down the operations of the 85-year-old magazine.
West Africa halted publication in August last year as a result of a messy financial dispute between the two shareholders of the magazine: Graphic Communications of Ghana and the London-registered Media Africa Group. Neither side has handled the matter competently. The decision to finally pull the plug on the magazine was taken unilaterally by the minority shareholding Media Africa Group, which was given overall management control of the publication through a strange arrangement with Graphic. Staff were left high and dry, as were loyal readers, many of whom have been subscribers to the magazine for more than 30 years.
We therefore owe it to these dedicated readers, and Africa as a whole, to continue the sterling work of West Africa, which was established in1917: to provide a strong voice for Africa. So, Africa Week, in the mode of West Africa, will be covering African affairs and issues that impinge on the continent every week on the web. We will provide readers not only with the same trenchant and incisive coverage West Africa was renowned for, but also ensure that there is a powerful alternative to Western dominance of the flow of information globally. Our ultimate goal is to be a multimedia organisation – taking in both print and the electronic media.
With Africa Week, we will be covering the whole continent. Indeed, it was becoming clearly obvious that there was a need for a medium that would provide total coverage of Africa. We want to be a medium that will provide knowledge to Africans in order to strengthen their voices. Here, we must quote the cliché: “Knowledge is power.” Indeed, we would like to add what a German Minister told the Global Development Network in 1999: “Knowledge equals power.”
What we plan to do is to share information that will enhance knowledge in Africa and about Africa. Africans need knowledge to deal with the complex social and economic issues they face. Africa Week will be at the centre of the information-sharing network that we hope to develop for the benefit of Africa.
So, how do we plan to go about the Africa Week project? Well, to start with, we are concentrating on the web publication. Each week, subscribers will get informative comments and opinions that will help shape their views on Africa. In effect, for the time being we will be a web-based publication. – taking advantage of the advances made in telecommunications technology.
Obviously, this poses a major problem: how do we reach readers in Africa? Unlike Europe and North America, where access to the internet is taken for granted, the situation in Africa is that only six per cent of the continent’s population has such access. So, what we plan to do is to print a special monthly edition – starting in March – of Africa Week that will be sold in Africa. Subscribers to the web edition of Africa Week will automatically get a copy of the printed version.
Subscribers, we are sure, will find plenty to interest them. Our editors – with considerable years of journalistic experience behind them – are leading a team of correspondents who will provide incomparable insights into a continent that is anything but predictable. We will give you in-depth coverage of politics, social issues, economics, the continent’s debt and, of course, the conflicts that tend to bedevil Africa. Our standard of writing will be of the highest order and our analysis will maintain the rigour that we provided at West Africa.
Another thing we aim to provide you with is a team of columnists that will give readers a fascinating mix of insights, views and ideas. Our columnists will offer a range of sharp and critical analysis of issues that are of utmost importance to Africa. They will provoke. They will not come from the same political school of thought.
Another appealing aspect of Africa Week is that we have a special section that covers Asian business and financial news. Why? Well, there is no denying that Asia has made considerable economic progress against all the odds. We should not forget that 40 years ago, when African countries were gaining their independence, the World Bank/IMF forecast was that these countries would find themselves in the position the successful Asian countries are now in. The forecast went on to add that Asian countries would be in the position Africa is now facing! What a turn up for the books.
Given that Africa has not made much progress through its trade links with Western Europe and America, we do not think that there is anything wrong in turning to Asia for inspiration and, hopefully, economic prosperity. We want Africa to emulate the Asian success story. There is a lot Africans can learn from Asian business and financial management and work ethic.
So, if you are interested in African affairs, you cannot afford to miss Africa Week. It is all so easy now with the internet. No longer will you be at the mercy of the erratic nature of the post, anxiously waiting for your magazine.
We look forward to welcoming you as a subscriber to Africa Week.
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