A gathering of some of Africa’s media leaders will be converging in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi for the AllAfrica Media Leaders Summit.
Organised by the AllAfrica Global Media, the three-day event will focus on African Economic Transformation, AI, Technology and Digitization, Regional Integration and Peacebuilding, Misinformation and Disinformation, Governance, Standards, and Capacity Building, and Creating Sustainable Business Models.
To be held from May 8 to 10, 2024, the Summit is under the theme: “Re-engineering African Media in Times of Critical Transformation”.
The organisers say it will feature innovations to leverage the ever-changing media landscape revolutionised by emerging technologies like a digital approach to public debate, innovations from the Newsroom Innovation Youth Challenge, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and a specialised metaverse from Ubuntu Tribe.
“We believe celebrating excellence in media and African development is of utmost importance to ensure the continuity of high-quality journalism and impactful contributions to the prosperity of our continent,” Amadou Mahtar Ba, Co-Founder & Executive Chairman of AllAfrica has said.
The organisers have said in a press release that they were organising the Summit in response to pressing appeals from many media practitioners and stakeholders across Africa who believe a free, independent, professional and thriving media industry is essential to the continent’s future.
“As with journalism institutions elsewhere in the world, African print and broadcast media have witnessed major changes in their industry. They need to address the challenges they face collectively,” the release said.
AllAfrica Global Media says it is launching this new platform: the AllAfrica Media Leaders’ Summit (AMLS) to replace the African Media Leaders Forum which ran from 2008 to 2013, bringing together media stakeholders including influential journalists, senior editors, civil society organizations, academics, business leaders as well as heads of state and leaders of Africa’s most prestigious institutions, such as the African Union, the African Development Bank and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.
What began with fifty attendees grew to more than 500 participants, the organisers said.
After a 10-year hiatus, AllAfrica is launching a new annual initiative, the AllAfrica Media Leaders’ Summit (AMLS), they added.
It says further that this vital convening platform is re-established as part of a broader campaign to support media practitioners with the skills, enhanced contextual knowledge and structures to play appropriate and essential roles in driving regional integration and the transformation of African economies, whilst championing human development.
“AMLS 2024 will bring together over 250 top African media leaders, owners and operators (representing almost all African countries and territories), global media players and opinion leaders, government officials, corporate leaders, academics, civil society champions, and development partners to discuss the business of media and the critical role it must play in shaping Africa’s future Transformation,” the organisers say.
On May 9, during the Summit the 2024 Media Excellence Awards would be held.
Commenting on the Awards, Mahtar Ba said: “We believe celebrating excellence in media and African development is of utmost importance to ensure the continuity of high-quality journalism and impactful contributions to the prosperity of our continent.”
The following categories will be awarded to some deserving persons in the media:
– The AllAfrica Titan Leadership Award in recognition of exceptional service in economic transformation and human development in Africa;
– Ten Lifetime Achievement Awards to deserving media leaders from seven African countries in recognition of their outstanding contributions to media development;
– The AllAfrica and University of Nairobi Wangarĩ Maathai Young Journalist Award in recognition of the best use of digital tools for youth engagement;
– The African Development Bank Journalism Award in recognition of excellence in development reporting;
– The African Export-Import Bank Journalism Award in recognition of excellence in reporting on regional integration;
– The African Capacity Building Foundation Award in recognition of excellence in reporting on capacity building;
and The AllAfrica and ONE Campaign Newsroom Innovation Youth Challenge top three Awards for excellence in developing new and innovative ways to enable newsrooms to engage the African youth.
