The Nairobi gathering was a follow-up to the Informal Joint Experts Meeting organised by the AUC and the European Commission (EC) in Addis Ababa, 23-25 March 2010 on the theme media and development.
Media play a critical role in promoting economic and human development. In order to help African media participate effectively and efficiently in the development efforts of the continent, the AUC has partnered with key players to develop a world class web platform that will serve as a central point to access information about the fast changing African media landscape.
This platform aims to gather information about media houses; list the national legislation of AU member states on media, present journalism and communication schools, and provide a full list of all relevant media stakeholders in each African country.
Participants in the Nairobi meeting agreed upon priority areas to implement in the first quarter of 2011 with the objective of launching a public website no later than March 2011.
"We are happy to see that this important project is finally underway. It has the full support of the EC, AUC and its chairperson Jean Ping. It is a new concept that will provide the hub of all African media information, and contacts, including the diaspora, a unique and unifying concept - one that has never been seen before," said Habiba Mejri-Cheikh, the AUC spokesperson in charge of communication and information.
"The African media landscape is fast changing with the huge impact of new information and communication technologies. It is high time that the media community comes together to create a unique tool which will provide the much-needed information on the state of the media throughout the continent," commented Amadou Mahtar Ba, CEO of the African Media Initiative which oversees the implementation of the Pan African Media Portal.
"We are grateful to A24 Media and AllAfrica Global Media who are pulling together their technological resources to make sure that this project takes off."
