Opening Remarks by
K. Y. Amoako, Executive Secretary of ECA

Addis Ababa, 7 April 2003

Introduction: The Information Age and Africa

Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of the Economic Commission for Africa it is a great pleasure to welcome you all to Addis Ababa for this important workshop. I am pleased to see so many representatives from internationally respected media, development and civil society institutions here today; because you all have a significant role to play in helping Africa meet its potential.

We now live in an information age, where the capacity to acquire and share knowledge is seen as key to economic growth and development. Many of the problems of health prevention, to take one example, related to poor communication and limited access to information. According to The World Health Organisation "40% of health is exchanging information."

New information and communication technologies present some of the most exciting possibilities for Africa in the new millennium and many have rightly placed emphasis on finding ways for Africa to harness these technologies to accelerate its development.

Since any sustainable development effort can only succeed if it is rooted in existing knowledge and best practice, the development of ICTs on this continent must inevitably include programmes and actions dedicated to making more effective use of old as well as new media.

The Role of the Broadcast Media in the Fight Against Poverty

There is growing realization among development workers, policy makers and development institutions of the key role that the media, and particularly the broadcast media in the African context, can play in the fight against poverty.

The time when my fellow economists and I paid little attention to the power of the broadcast media in promoting the development agenda is now long gone. There is and always will be emphasis on rigorous substance. But we now realize that form is every bit as important. If we want to empower people as players in their own development, we cannot ignore the growing significance of broadcasting. Our very impact as development practitioners depends not exclusively on the policy analysis we produce, but on its impact on development outcomes, on its impact on the ordinary citizen in each African country.

ECA's Vision: the Need for Partnership

Here at ECA, considerable resources and energy have been invested in building communication capacity since I became Executive Secretary in 1995. Internally at ECA, we have sought to ensure quality, relevance and timeliness in the production and dissemination of the knowledge we create in-house.

However, our vision does not stop at simply improving our internal systems. The question of who owns and creates the information that paves the information highway in Africa is of paramount importance, and additionally a culturally sensitive issue. We strongly believe that Africa's media must participate in the 21st century information age as producers and consumers of socio-economic development information. Africa must be the owner, keeper and sharer of its own information.

Related to this, we believe that through sustained advocacy based on accurate and contextualized content, an active and pro-active media can help bring about positive development outcomes in Africa.

As part of this activism, everyone in the business of generating knowledge - be they journalists, economists or researchers -- must do everything in their power to ensure that the fruits of their labours are disseminated as widely as possible so that all stakeholders can take part in the ongoing dialogue about how best we can meet our development challenges.

But we at ECA cannot make such a vision happen on our own. Success calls for partnership. Our vision of broadcasting for development in Africa is therefore based on the principle of strategic partnership towards shared values and common goals. As part of this strategy, we seek to develop an internal capacity to produce and disseminate development programming for broadcast in Africa. But more importantly, we seek to forge closer links with broadcasters so as to empower them not simply as tellers of the story, but as important activists who can influence development outcomes in favour of Africa's people.

The Objectives of the Workshop

We organized this workshop because we wanted to bring together the best and the brightest to chart the way forward together with us. We expect a number of outcomes:

• Enhanced understanding of the emerging broadcasting for development landscape in Africa;

• Clarity on the strategic role for ECA and partner development institutions in strengthening broadcasting for development in Africa;

• Agreement on partnership initiatives in broadcasting for development for 2003 and beyond;

• And the establishment of a follow-up mechanism to strengthen and sustain these partnerships.

In a nutshell, we want to work closely with you on concrete activities with clear strategy, to produce results. If we can demonstrate through partnership that development stories can be told in compelling ways via radio, TV and video, and can effect change, others will inevitably join us in our quest.

I wish you fruitful deliberations over the next two days and look forward to a closer collaboration between your organisations and ECA in the near future.

Thank you.