FAAPA: Press Agencies' Chiefs Call for Using Information to Serve Africa's Causes

22 January 2024 Printable Version

Salé - Directors of African press agencies called, Monday in Salé, for using information to serve the causes of the African continent, as part of the 7th General Assembly of the Federation of African Press Agencies (FAAPA).

In statements to MAP, these media professionals stressed the need to use information to promote Africa's potential in the world, and to ward off any kind of media interference that seeks to damage the continent's image

On this occasion, the director general of the Guinean Press Agency (AGP), François Mara, said that African news agencies are called upon to join hands to carry the voice of Africa, insofar as information remains an important element that reflects the national sovereignty of each State and contributes to defending African causes in terms of development and fulfillment.

To this end, he expressed his rejection of attempts by some foreign media to truncate or transform African information, inviting all players to promote support for public media and the appropriate and ongoing training of young people, in order to federate all African states and achieve information sovereignty.

For his part, the director general of the Togolese Press Agency (ATOP), Eyebiyi Kokouvi Adéyêmi, noted that African unity and prosperity depended on media independence, which would eventually enable the continent's potential to be showcased, noting the need to counter hegemony in the field of information with a view to creating information free from foreign influence.

For his part, the director of the Cameroonian Information Agency, Xavier Messé, pointed out that a State that does not manage its information is far from being sovereign, adding that when national information is analyzed, dissected and commented on by the country, the latter is in a good position to improve its visibility and assert its interests.

The information director of the Niger Press Agency (ANP), Chegou Abdourahamane, explained that the mastery of information is an essential factor in promoting the identity of African countries and uniting the continent, noting that information sovereignty contributes to countering false information aimed at distorting Africa's image.

Hels under the theme "African newsmaking: a major sovereign stake", the 7th FAAPA General Assembly brings together, for two days, Directors General of African press agencies, media experts and prominent figures from the Atlantic African region to explore ways of strengthening African sovereignty, through information and dynamic initiatives along the Atlantic coastline.