A 'new voice' - africanews set for television launch

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The final countdown is on, with africanews due to have its television launch on Wednesday.

Billed as a “new voice” and coming from the heart of Pointe-Noire in the Republic of the Congo it is designed to be the first pan-African multilingual news service.

On TV and online

Africanews is a round-the-clock multi-media offering, the sister of Europe’s euronews and has a team which is more than 80-strong and represents 15 nationalities.

“Initially, because we are coming from different backgrounds, we had to adjust to each other, settling the cultural shocks, moving here to Pointe-Noire from Anglophone countries, from francophone countries,” explained Narkwor Kwabla, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, who is from Ghana.

“But then with time, we have learnt to work together and everybody here is professional. So we have learnt to work together for the good of this project. And it’s working out perfectly.”

Countdown to official launch of Africanews TV – 2 Days before D-day #AfricanewsOnAirhttps://t.co/rAzXGj5gWppic.twitter.com/SQAGK2WDdX

— africanews (@africanews) 18 avril 2016

The africanews website went live in January and the TV channel will initially be launched in French and English, with more languages expected to follow in the future.

“The first priority is information about Africa,” said senior journalist Wahany Sambou, who is from Senegal.

Editorial independence

Africanews says it adheres to the same editorial charter as euronews. One based on freedom of expression and editorial independence, limited only by respect for the facts.

Senior journalist Jean-David Mihamle, from Cameroon, commented: “It’s often information from elsewhere that influences the lives of Africans. But for once, we have the possibility to freely give an African perspective. That is what africanews represents to us.”

Africanews is being funded by a mixture of advertising, distribution and production revenues.