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AFRICA24 MEDIA

In 1984 Mohamed Amin filmed images in Ethiopia that changed the world. Most importantly, those images helped save the lives of over three million people. For over four decades, he covered the major events across the African content, creating a world class photography and video footage repository. The company he founded, CAMERAPIX, celebrated its 50th birthday in 2013.

His work was about the people, culture, history and beauty of the African continent. Continuing the tradition of his solid work AFRICA24 MEDIA was founded, and produces the ground-breaking AFRICA JOURNAL program that Mo founded in 1994. AFRICA24 MEDIA combines Camerapix’s longstanding reputation for technical quality, editorial integrity and a love for storytelling, with the news platforms, formats and youthful vibe that is changing our continent. In 2013 AFRICA24 MEDIA introduced a couple of new programs, AFRICA MEANS BUSINESS and ON THE ROAD, highlighting Africa’s growing economies and its treasure trove of exciting places to visit. Another milestone is THE SCOOP, a talk show hosted by our Chairman, Salim Amin, who talks to the movers and shakers on the African continent, finding out their success stories and also something few people know about them.

Salim is also the son of the Camerapix founder and has been in the television industry since he was a teenager. He still marvels over the amount of material his father produced in his time. But he is determined to keep up and even surpass his father in some ways as he builds AFRICA24 MEDIA. “We are building a rich catalogue of stories about the best of Africa, which my father would be proud of, but we are doing it to go across every media platform and on every country in the Continent,” says Salim.

AFRICA24 MEDIA’S content is formatted for print, video, internet, mobile and every new platform going into the future. A24 Media - An African voice telling the African Story.

www.a24media.com
info@a24media.com

Coca Cola

The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation (TCCAF) exists for the benefit of communities in Africa. Through its work across the continent it is helping to address some of the unmet needs that are a priority for communities.

Its strategic support for community projects in the areas of water (RAIN) and health (Project Last Mile and ShareHope) are all helping to make a tangible difference to the lives of many Africans each day.

RAIN (Replenish Africa Initiative) will provide over two million people in Africa with access to clean water by the end of 2015. RAIN is The Coca-Cola Company’s contribution to helping Africa make progress on the United Nation’s 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on clean water and sanitation access. In early 2014 RAIN reached its one millionth beneficiary through over 30 completed projects. To achieve its programme goals, TCCAF collaborates with other organisations who can provide expertise and with whom it has synergies that it can leverage to scale the impact of its programs. Read more about RAIN, its goals and success here.

Project Last Mile, which was established in 2010, applies Coca-Cola's logistic, supply chain, distribution and marketing expertise to help African governments maximise the ability to get critical medicines and medical supplies the "last mile" to those who need it most in remote communities in Africa.

The project has already transformed medicine distribution in Tanzania and Ghana and over the next five years the programme will be expanded to include 10 African countries.

The work of TCCAF is supplementary to The Coca-Cola Company’s inclusive business initiative dubbed s 5by20.

5by20 is a global commitment to economically empower five million women entrepreneurs across the value chain by 2020. This initiative harnesses the unique scale and reach of TCCC global system and aims to give millions of women across the world, opportunities to reach their potential, support their families and strengthen their communities.

The project has already transformed medicine distribution in Tanzania and Ghana and over the next five years the programme will be expanded to include 10 African countries.

The Coca-Cola Company is committed to the future growth and development of Africa. It recently announced a further $5 billion investment in Africa through to 2020. The investment, to be made over the next six years, increases Coca-Cola’s total investment in Africa to $17 billion from 2010 to 2020 and will largely focus on infrastructure, manufacturing capabilities, job creation and sustainability programs.

Ecobank

Ecobank today is one of the top three banks by assets in 14 of the 36 African countries where it has a presence. At the end of June 2014, it had total assets of USD23.4 billion and generated pre-tax profits of USD255 million. Its unique pan-African network comprises 1,241 branches, 2,500 automated teller machines and 16,245 point of service terminals, servicing nearly 11 million customers. Ecobank provides a full range of banking services, including retail, wholesale, transactional and investment banking. With a head count of more than 20,000, Ecobank is the largest financial services employer in Middle Africa.

As an organization that is passionate about Africa’s development and about nurturing homegrown talent, Ecobank is committed to supporting capacity building to improve the quality of media reporting. We have seen significant advances in the strength and depth of reporting on Africa over the past decade, which has delivered clear benefits both to business and to the continent. Investors are now taking Africa far more seriously and these changing perceptions are key to sustainable development. Here, in Dar es Salaam, we are in the heart of Africa’s fastest growing trading bloc, the East African Community, which is strategically important to Ecobank due to the cross-border banking and trade finance opportunities that are opening up.

That is why we are extremely pleased to once again be partnering with CNN and Multichoice in recognizing excellence in African journalism through these prestigious awards, which have become a much-anticipated event in the African journalist’s calendar year. Reflecting the pan-African nature of the competition, this year’s finalists include representatives from nine countries where Ecobank is present, encompassing Anglophone, Francophone and Lusophone Africa.

As a signatory of the Equator Principles, the United Nations Environmental Programme’s Finance Initiative and the UN Global Compact, we are especially pleased to sponsor this year’s Environmental Award. We believe it is important to acknowledge the key role that the media plays, not only in raising awareness of environmental issues but, more importantly, in influencing individual, national and international actions to combat climate change.

Africa is one of the most vulnerable continents to climate change. Numerous UN reports predict extreme environmental consequences as a result of global warming, rising sea levels and deforestation. This will have a catastrophic impact on the lives and livelihoods of all Africans if we do nothing.

Part of the challenge is that environmental issues are often complex concepts to grasp and it can be hard to get individuals, communities and businesses to adopt new behaviors. This is all the more so given people’s preoccupation in much of the developing world with other basic needs like access to running water, electricity and other infrastructure essentials. However, environmental issues are important and, like any change process, buy-in requires 360° participation and commitment – from government policies to individual habits. So Ecobank believes that it is important to celebrate the achievements of journalists who act as the “conscience of Africa,” delivering high-quality analysis and informed opinion to promote a better understanding of these complex issues in society at large, and who galvanize grassroots communities in the protection of the environment.

For more information about the Ecobank Group, please visit ecobank.com

GE in Africa

GE first started operating in Sub-Saharan Africa over 100 years ago. However in 2011, GE decided to renew its focus to meet Africa’s current and future needs. GE footprint in sub-Saharan Africa now consists of over 1800 employees, revenues of over $2.5 billion dollars (2013) and operations in 25 countries. GE.s main operations in SSA are in Nigeria, South Africa, Angola, Ghana and Kenya where the SSA Headquarters is located.

A key partner in supporting SSA’s socio-economic growth, GE operates in the Oil & gas, power, transportation, healthcare and aviation sectors.

Partnership with Governments and local companies form a very important part of GE’s growth in SSA. GE has signed MOUs with the Governments of several countries such as Nigeria, Kenya, Angola and Ghana to develop infrastructure projects, including sustainable energy solutions, providing efficient and reliable transportation as well as improving access to quality healthcare. These MOUs involve significant investments in creating jobs and human capital development.

Energy in Africa

Energy is an essential facilitator of Infrastructure, Transportation, Healthcare and Education. 70% of SSA’s population has no access to electricity. Ninety million sub-Saharan children have no electricity at school. The Energy deficit in Africa is huge. GE believes that no single fuel will be adequate to meet Africa’s power deficit. A mix of fuels will be needed to provide reliable, affordable and sustainable energy to Africa’s growing population and to power the development of manufacturing and industry. GE’s giant strides in the Energy sector across Africa is helping to light up the continent on and off respective national grids.

In Tanzania, GE is working to develop 5MW to supply power to mini grids with the state utility, Tanesco. In Kenya, GE has a project that will turn vegetable waste from a large horticultural exporter into fuel. The waste is passed through an Anaerobic Digestion (AD) process to produce biogas, which becomes the fuel for GE Jenbacher gas engines. In Nigeria, GE signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the government to help generate 10,000MW of power. 5 years after that landmark commitment, GE has helped to activate about 5,000MW.

GE & Power Africa

GE is one of the founding private sector partners for President Obama’s Power Africa Initiative. At the project announcement in June 2013, GE committed to help bring online 5,000MW of new electric generation capacity, in cooperation with respective governments and other private sector partners. To this end GE has recorded a number of milestones. GE’s Ghana 1000 project aims to bring on line 1000 MW of power over the next six years. In Nigeria and Kenya, the GE/USADF Power Africa Off-grid Energy Challenge awarded six $100,000 grants in 2013 for the development of off-grid solutions. This year GE has expanded this initiative to include all 6 Power Africa countries (Ghana, Tanzania Ethiopia and Liberia), working with USADF and USAID.

Enabling infrastructure investment

Governments need to facilitate access to clean water, hospitals and clinics, roads and rail, electricity, and communications which will help to alleviate poverty, improve health, and build sustainable economies. Private sector expertise and investment in infrastructure development is essential to this process. The key to addressing this challenge is finding new, creative financing options utilizing both public and private channels to access global capital.

GE believes that investment in Africa’s infrastructural overhaul is the key to igniting a socio-economic boom. Infrastructure investment will not only serve to increase access to power and healthcare for Africans, but will promote entrepreneurship and enable Africans to play more competitively in the global economy.

http://www.gereportsafrica.com/

IPP Media

Information that fosters democracy is vital in probating sustainable development for poverty eradication. Free and independent media provides that information which enables people to know government policies and gives people a forum to express themselves and give their views on those policies. It gives a platform for national debate on policies and enables plurality of voices. In this way, all the people get the opportunity to participate in socio-economic and political development and maintain national stability. Free and independent media also enables information to governments about the wishes, aspirations and the plight of poor people for consideration. This is democracy; it enables the people to participate in policy formulation. Free media is the voice of the voiceless; of the poor.

Free media promotes good governance by playing the role of watch dog. It brings to scrutiny public officers to account for their actions and also promotes transparency. Corruption retards development. It must be investigated and corrupt acts and corrupt individuals must be exposed and reported extensively to create public awareness of corruption to prompt action by relevant authorities.

Journalists must provide information that targets poverty eradication. They must know and inform the people about the opportunities available to them and the richness endowed to their countries. Some books and media falsely classify some African countries as poor while in fact they are rich in mineral resources which are being allocated corruptly to a few individuals. This classification makes the poor in these countries to believe that they are poor because their countries are poor. However, economic reports continue to indicate growth of their countries’ economies while the people become even poorer. The media must reverse this misrepresentation and inform the people correctly. This will create public awareness of their countries’ richness and sensitize them to seek satisfactory answers from their governments regarding their persistent poverty in the midst of wealth and apparently growing economies and demand reforms for appropriate management of their countries’ resources.

Journalists must visit rural communities where the majority of poor populations live to get their views on what they consider to be the best way to address their poverty.

They must promote government policies and programmes on poverty eradication to grassroots and sensitize greater civic participation in development activities. Reporting on poverty eradication extensively should be a fulfillment of media social responsibility corresponding to the freedom of the press it enjoys.

MSD

BE WELL. IT’S A PROMISE MADE TO THE WORLD AND KEPT EVERY DAY.

It doesn’t happen in the boardroom, office or a clinic. Not even in the lab. No, the promise of Be well is kept in the heart. In the special passion the people of Merck/MSD, working in more than a hundred countries, bring to our mission.
You can see the depths of that passion in the breadth of our products. MSD’s medicines, vaccines, and consumer care and animal health products touch the lives of millions. For more than 150 years, our tireless innovation has resulted in many world-changing medical breakthroughs — some taken for granted with each passing decade, others as the latest advances for many common diseases. Today, our focus on achieving more scientific discoveries, on improving how we do our business to reach the many millions we aren’t today, and on discovering better ways to make a difference in everything we do — remains just as intense.
Yet, we know others share our pursuit and that no one company can keep the promise of Be well alone. So, we invite you to read on.

A LEGACY OF INNOVATION: TACKLING INFECTIOUS DISEASE.

MSD’s focus on infectious diseases goes beyond HIV/AIDS. Extensive research efforts remain under way in the area of hepatitis C, a disease that affects approximately 130 to 170 million people globally. And it doesn’t stop there. A wide range of educational and support programs along with cutting-edge partnerships — with academia, non-profits, and government agencies — play an equally critical role in helping people and communities with HIV and hepatitis C.

MOTHERS HOLD THE FUTURE IN THEIR HANDS. THAT’S WHY WE HOLD THIS MISSION DEAR.

Every day, one thousand women die during pregnancy or childbirth. This tragedy is one of the world’s oldest; however, 90% of the time, it is preventable. That’s why MSD launched MSD for Mothers, joining with global health leaders to combat maternal mortality. MSD for Mothers leverages the whole of our business and scientific expertise to help raise awareness of the issue, bring others into the effort and advance new, life-saving technologies. The goal is, quite simply, a world where no woman has to die in pregnancy or childbirth.

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING WE MAKE IS A DIFFERENCE. MILLIONS OF PEOPLE SEE THAT DIFFERENCE CLEARLY.

To be truly effective, scientific innovation must be matched by a determination to see that those advances make a real difference in people’s lives. Consider MSD’s role in combating river blindness, a tropical disease that afflicts millions of people in Africa and Latin America. Working with a network of global partners, MSD is committed to helping eradicate river blindness in these areas. Our program reaches 100 million people each year and remarkable progress continues to be made. More than two decades since its inception, the worldwide campaign is widely recognized as one of the most successful public-private health partnerships in the world.

50 YEARS. 40 DRUGS. 1,000 SCIENTISTS. THAT’S HOW YOU BEAT BACK HEART DISEASE.

Even after 50 years of medical advances from MSD and others, heart disease remains the number one killer worldwide, cutting across social, economic and geographic boundaries. Our commitment to advancing cardiovascular care began with one of the first oral antihypertensive medications in the 1950s and research leading to a new cholesterol-lowering mechanism in the 1970s. Today, the expectations are even greater. We’re conducting large outcomes studies for many of our medicines to demonstrate value above and beyond what currently exists. With a considerable number of cardiovascular medicines available today or in clinical trials, Merck offers patients many options. And hope.

THE CHALLENGE. DEVELOP VACCINES FOR THE DEVELOPING WORLD.

MSD’s long-term commitment to pioneering vaccines is unique in our industry. It has also convinced us that simply discovering new vaccines is not enough. What’s needed is a new way of developing and manufacturing vaccines. The MSD Wellcome Trust Hilleman Laboratories is such a step. It’s a first-of-its-kind collaboration between a healthcare company, Merck/MSD, and a research charity, the Wellcome Trust. It will create low-cost and easier-to-administer solutions — solutions that make particular sense for the developing world. Imagine, for example, the usefulness of vaccines that don’t require refrigeration, a rarity in parts of the world where vaccines are most needed.

OUR STORY DOESN’T END HERE. PROMISE.

A century-and-a-half of innovation and dedication, of advances that have made a difference in the lives of millions. At MSD, we’re proud but also very humbled. We know our achievements owe much to listening to and working with others who share the same goal. Meeting tomorrow’s healthcare challenges will require more of the same — and, simply, more. That’s because when your promise is to help the world Be well, it’s a promise for life.