In 18 months time viewers cross Africa will be able to tune into a new pan-African multilingual news channel called Africanews. This is the result of a partnership between Euronews and national television channel of the Republic of Congo.
From its base in Brazzaville and its regional network across the continent, Africanews will follow the same editorial mandate as Euronews and work towards becoming the first pan-African rolling news channel.
Initially the offering will be in English and French, after which other languages will be added.
Media reports state that senior executives from both Euronews S.A and Télé Congo signed a cooperation agreement in early January pertaining to the launch.
In addition to providing Africa-focused news content for the continent, the channel also plans on immediately broadcasting flagship programmes and reports. It will also source international news content from its sister channel, Euronews.
The short-term plan is to provide news via television and streaming over the internet and then via mobile applications and devices.
In a press release issued by Euronews S.A, the company affirmed Africanews’ editorial independence and its mandate to “freely choose, use and adapt the international news content produced by Euronews to create programmes for its own viewers.”
Michael Peters, CEO of Euronews S.A, is quoted as saying, “We take great pride in announcing this emblematic cooperation project and we are eager to launch this new player on the world media scene.”
Chris Tredger – Online Editor
