Cote d’Ivoire’s Minister of Communication, Media, and Francophonie, Amadou Coulibaly, met with members of the executive committee of the Atlantic Federation of African Press Agencies (FAAPA) on Wednesday in Abidjan to discuss the ninth executive committee meeting and address the challenges faced by African media in the current geopolitical landscape.
Coulibaly endorsed Côte d’Ivoire’s status as host of the high-level FAAPA talks and recognized the “complex global geopolitical context” as an important backdrop for the discussions.
He said that African press agencies play a critical role in providing “reliable and fact-checked news.”
“Our African story must be told by Africans themselves,” Coulibaly said. “The continent’s news agencies are now ready to compete globally.”
The minister also noted the “historical” relationship between Morocco and Côte d’Ivoire, citing the late Félix Houphouët-Boigny and Morocco’s late King Hassan II as key figures in fostering ties and President Alassane Ouattara and King Mohammed VI as having further reinforced this partnership, FAAPA reported.
He also commended the “strong” partnership between the Ivorian Press Agency (AIP) and Morocco’s News Agency (MAP), which serves as a model within the FAAPA framework.
“The choice of Côte d’Ivoire to host this session is first and foremost a choice of the heart,” Fouad Arif, Head of both FAAPA and MAP stated.
Arif and FAAPA Vice President, Oumou Barry Sana, who serves as Central Director of Cote d’Ivoire Press Agency (AIP), spearheaded the delegation at the event.
The federation created the Network of African Press Agency Fact-Checker Journalists (RJF-FAAPA) in April this year to serve as a platform for verifying facts and source-checking information as well as mitigating the spread of misinformation in the African media landscape.
Launched in 2014, FAAPA is a professional association dedicated to addressing the role of African news agencies in the 21st century and beyond. Comprised of 30 news agencies and professional groups, it promotes cooperation and dialogue among agencies in all areas of common interest, including information, training, and multimedia content.