Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa marks one year, graduates 260 on Financial Journalism

The Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa (BMIA) Executive Training Program to advance financial journalism in Africa has marked the completion of its first year this February with 260 graduates receiving recognition at graduation ceremonies held Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa.

R-L: Professor Raheem Bello, Vice Chancellor, University of Lagos, shaking hands with Erana Stennnett, Director Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa, during the graduation ceremony of first and second cohorts in Nigeria, while Professor Ralph Akinfeleye, Director of School of Journalism, University of Lagos looks on.

The six-month certificate program is offered to journalists and mid-career professionals in business and civil society to strengthen their skills in capital markets and data analysis and enhance their knowledge in financial and economic reporting.

The program is a core component of the BMIA, which aims to accelerate development of a globally competitive media and financial reporting industry as well as promote transparency, accountability and good governance in Africa.

Speaking at graduation ceremony in Nigeria, which held at the University of Lagos on Tuesday February 16, Director Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa, Erana Stennnett said, “we hope participants will consider this exposure to business and financial reporting as a lifelong vocation to further the development, quality, accuracy and impact of the field in Africa.”

She added, “Bloomberg is proud to partner with preeminent journalists and leading universities in Africa to make this program possible. I am proud of the journalists and executives who completed the program, and thank their employers for giving them the opportunity.”

Consortium Faculty at the Pan Atlantic University Lagos Business School, Lekki, Dr. Bongo Adi said: “It gives us a great sense of accomplishment to graduate 90 participants in Nigeria’s BMIA Executive Training program. Several graduates are already on their way to higher responsibilities in their careers, demonstrating the quality of the faculty and relevance of the program. We hope to keep attracting outstanding candidates to the program and generating real influence in financial reporting in Nigeria.”

According Adi, the interactive program is designed to enhance the skills and knowledge of media professionals to better serve the public interest as a critical part of continental development and progress, adding that the program participants received instruction from world-class faculty and industry experts.

The 19-day program over six months consists of six modules featuring Public Policy, Financial Journalism, Financial Markets, Accounting and Finance. Delegates also receive copies of ‘The Bloomberg Way’, a guide for reporters and editors written by Matthew Winkler, Editor-in-Chief Emeritus, Bloomberg News, as well as a free subscription to leading financial and business information system, the Bloomberg Professional Service.

Funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, with additional support from the Ford Foundation, the BMIA Executive Training Program brings together leading faculty from the University of Pretoria’s Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) and five other preeminent business and journalism schools in Africa, including: Rhodes University School of Journalism in South Africa; the Pan Atlantic University Lagos Business School in Nigeria; the University of Lagos Department of Mass Communication and Radio, and University of Nairobi, School of Journalism and Mass Communications and Strathmore Business School in Kenya.

Meanwhile, applications for the third intake is now open; interested individuals, who possess a recognised tertiary qualification (bachelor’s degree or diploma) and have experience in journalism, finance, communication or a related field are encouraged to apply via www.gibs.co.za/bmia or email: [email protected] for further information.

Director Secretariat, Linda Sing said: “We have two more programs, which will offer aspiring African media professionals, and all communicators focused on Africa’s economies, an opportunity to expand their theoretical knowledge base and to enhance their understanding of the critical inter-dependencies shaping the African growth and development narrative.”

According to Sing, the Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa (BMIA) is a three-year pan-African program launched by Michael R. Bloomberg in 2014 to provide cross disciplinary education programs to strengthen business and economic media capacity, convene African and international leaders to examine worldwide best practices in financial journalism, and improve access to information in order to advance transparency and accountability on the continent.