Michael Bloomberg, Founder and CEO, Bloomberg L.P., at the Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa launch in Johannesburg, South Africa
Metropolitan area in Lagos, Nigeria.
Timely and accurate reporting of business and financial developments plays a critical role in advancing efficient markets and is a key driver in supporting economic and social growth. Strengthening business and economic news coverage, expanding training programs for journalists and providing greater access to reliable data about Africa are frequently cited as important factors to the continent’s continued development. The Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa (BMIA), launched by Mike Bloomberg in South Africa in 2014, is a three–year program to build media capacity, convene international leaders and improve access to information on the continent. To accelerate development of a globally competitive media and financial reporting industry, BMIA provides cross disciplinary education programs, mid–career fellowships and educational scholarships to increase the number of highly trained business and financial journalists, convenes pan–African forums to examine worldwide media best practices, builds community media capacity to improve analysis and reporting, and improves access to relevant data to promote transparency, accountability and good governance in Africa and beyond. BMIA is an initiative of Bloomberg Philanthropies, with additional support provided by the Ford Foundation.
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Business and financial journalism training. BMIA Executive Training Program classroom, Gordon Institute of Business Science, Johannesburg, South Africa
Bloomberg has collaborated with a consortium of preeminent journalism and business schools across three key African markets to deliver a highly innovative, integrated and practical world–class executive training program that is firmly rooted in African market realities. The BMIA Executive Training Program involves part–time study for working professionals and enables them to continue their careers with important new knowledge and skills. The 19–day program spans a period of six months and includes six study blocks. The Executive Training Program is currently being offered in South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya. Participating universities are:
South Africa: University of Pretoria’s Gordon Institute of Business Science Rhodes University School of Journalism and Media Studies Nigeria: University of Lagos, Department of Mass Communications and Radio Lagos Business School, Pan–Atlantic University Kenya: Strathmore University Business School School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Nairobi
For more information, please visit bmia.org
Underwritten by:
Co-sponsored by:
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Scholarships.
BMIA strives to increase the number of skilled, professional journalists in the pipeline. Many qualified students with an interest in pursuing a journalism career are unable to do so because of financial constraints. BMIA provides scholarships for working journalists and professionals interested in attending the Executive Training Program. In addition, financial support is available on a need basis for qualified students who would like to pursue a degree in journalism or mass communication at one of the three journalism schools in the Executive Training Program. For more information, please email bmia@bloomberg.net
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ALI Media Fellows Class 1–Erinvale, South Africa
Media fellowship. At the request of BMIA and with its support, the Africa Leadership Initiative (ALI) has developed an innovative Fellowship Program for distinguished media professionals from Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa to enhance the future of financial journalism in Africa. The ALI Media Fellowship provides a forum for managing directors, editors and other media leaders to hear from leading international practitioners, exchange ideas, attend journalism and business courses and examine new trends to help shape the media sector that will play a significant role in Africa’s future economic growth. This two–year program is divided into four seminars, each lasting four days, held in different locations in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. Participants also plan and execute a public interest project drawing upon their professional skills and experience. Upon completion of the ALI Media Fellowship Program, participants become part of a community of Fellowship Alumni and will have the opportunity to engage formally and informally with their peers and other media professionals.
For more information, please visit bmia.org
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Convening leaders.
Media and business leaders at the Bloomberg Africa Business Media Innovators, Johannesburg, South Africa
Johannesburg, South Africa
Africa Business Media Innovators is a gathering of global and African luminaries to help uncover emerging trends that will shape the media and business reporting landscape of the future. Focused on Africa, but with a global perspective, Africa Business Media Innovators seeks to contribute to the flourishing of financial and business journalism and to the sustainable development of the African continent. This highly interactive gathering features roundtable discussions and town hall interviews with publishers, editors, journalists, entrepreneurs and leaders from business, technology and civil society. All of them share their experiences and perspectives on how to create more dynamic new media businesses and inclusive financial journalism in Africa. Participants also exchange knowledge about innovative best practices and action–oriented strategies to optimize future media success.
For more information, please visit bmia.org
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Community media.
The role of media and journalism is not confined to news organizations, broadcasting companies or governments. Within Africa there is a large and growing community– media sector linked to enterprises, civil society and educational institutions. These include NGOs that focus attention on issues of transparency and accountability. The Community Media Fund aims to elevate voices from provincial, local and remote rural areas through the advancement of citizen and community reporting on financial and economic issues. In addition, the Community Media Fund is designed to expand the financial literacy of citizens, improve their access to relevant data and build the capacity of community media to hold the public and private sectors accountable through improved analysis and reporting. The media fund will also help develop opportunities and channels for NGOs and civil–society organizations to aid journalists in better understanding and covering issues of importance to communities.
Waldo Swiegers/ Bloomberg
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Promoting transparency. During research interviews for BMIA, media and journalism stakeholders across the continent routinely referenced a lack of timely, reliable socioeconomic data as a key impediment to effective journalism and improved economic decision making. Access to timely and accurate data is also an important enabler of economic and human development. There is great demand on the continent for a centralized platform with accessible, meaningful and up–to–date data and information about key indicators for use by citizens, civil society, academics, journalists, lawyers and business and government professionals. Such a platform will make it possible for them to perform better analysis and enable more informed assessment and decision making to help advance Africa’s economies. To address this need, BMIA seeks to work with partners in Africa to improve access to reliable data and information.
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Education partners:
The Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa is underwritten by Bloomberg Philanthropies with support from the Ford Foundation.
About Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa. Launched by Michael R. Bloomberg in 2014, the Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa (BMIA) is designed to provide cross–disciplinary education programs to strengthen business and economic media capacity, to convene African and international leaders to examine worldwide best practices in financial journalism and to improve access to information in order to advance transparency, accountability and governance on the continent. bmia.org
About Bloomberg Philanthropies. The Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa furthers Michael R. Bloomberg’s philanthropic efforts on the continent. Bloomberg’s foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, works in more than 140 countries around the world and supports projects across Africa in more than 36 countries, including women’s economic development, malaria research, maternal health, road safety, tobacco control and helping cities reduce their carbon footprints through C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group. For more information, please visit bloomberg.org or follow us: Facebook: /bloombergdotorg Instagram: @bloombergdotorg Snapchat: Bloombergdotorg Twitter @BloombergDotOrg
About the Ford Foundation. The Ford Foundation is an independent, nonprofit grant–making organization. For more than 75 years, it has worked with courageous people on the frontlines of social change worldwide, guided by its mission to strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote international cooperation and advance human achievement. With headquarters in New York, the foundation has offices in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. fordfoundation.org