“News with a human face” in focus at African Development Bank and Thomson Reuters Foundation workshop for African journalists

“The training opened my eyes to see Africa as it is, and not as it is portrayed in the media,” said Thando Magudulela, a journalist with the South African Broadcasting Corporation, at the opening of the second edition of a reporting workshop hosted by the African Development Bank in South Africa.

Following the successful first edition in Abidjan last June, the African Development Bank and the Thomson Reuters Foundation organised the next phase of its collaboration from 6-8 November 2019, in Pretoria.

“Let’s work together in creative ways to ensure accountability in our countries, and build a new Africa for future generations,” Victor Oladokun, the Bank’s Director of Communication and External Relations, said in a presentation at the programme.

“Permit me to say it is not all doom and gloom. Together, we need to tell the stories of some of the positive developments taking place on our continent and of a resurgent Africa,” Oladokun told participants.

The workshop was attended by journalists from 21 Southern and Eastern African countries. The programme offered them specialised reporting knowledge and skills focusing on impact development placing people at the center of the continent’s development narrative.

The three-day programme delivers on a pledge that Bank President Akinwumi Adesina made at the Bank’s Annual Meetings last year in Busan, South Korea, where he promised to provide development training to journalists.

As part of the rigorous course, trainees visited Ekurhuleni East TVET College in Germiston, Gauteng Province, where the Bank‘s support has impacted 200 students, instructors and Small Medium and Micro Enterprise (SMMEs) in the local community. This has led to improved performance of students and productivity for SMMEs.

“I am impressed with the selection of trainers. I learnt a lot, and this is good for my career development. I will forever value this opportunity and will always be grateful to the African Development Bank,” said Doreen Chilumbu Nawa from the Zambian Daily Mail.

The African Development Bank’s High 5 priorities sharpen the focus and adapt the global agenda and the Paris Climate Agreement to the Agenda 2063 for Africa developed by the African Union.

“This training gave us opportunity to learn that we can also focus on changing and developing our communities through our profession,” said Kebadiretse Rasekhutla, from Gabz FM, based in Botswana.

The High 5s target inclusive growth and a transition to green growth through five priorities to improve the quality of life for the people of Africa.

The Thomson Reuters Foundation promotes impartial, independent evidence-based reporting.

To Elizabeth Akolde Malath, a mid-career journalist from the South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation, the training was “an eye-opener to upcoming journalists like me.”

*AFDB