West Africa to get its first Graduate School of Economic and Financial Journalism.
Full time Graduate School intake to start in September 2007. Short programmes begin in September 2006

Trans Africa Media Trust, the training division of Trans Africa Publishing Company Limited, publishers of Africa Week magazine is to set up a training school for financial and economic journalism in West Africa. Ghana is considered as the location of the school.

"I am excited that after many years of research and planning, we now have the commitment of business and industry to support such an important venture," says Bernard Otabil, an Executive Director of Trans Africa Publishing Company and a financial journalist. "This will be the first of its kind in West Africa. As the World Bank has noted, media personnel, particularly in Africa, often lack the technical expertise to carry out meaningful economic and financial reporting. So, there is a dire need for training journalists who would take a more incisive look at economic and financial issues for the good of their various countries".

"Such training could considerably improve the analytical skills of economic and financial journalists. Poor analysis could be recognised by the reader who is clued up on economic and financial issues but those readers who are not so lucky – and they happen to be in the majority – could be misguided. So the African media need personnel with the appropriate skills to provide the informed economic and financial information that is needed today. This is the rationale behind the West Africa Graduate School of Economic and Financial Journalism", he added.

The concept is in line with the recommendation on the media by the Commission for Africa, which says: "Independent media institutions, public service broadcasters, civil society and the private sector, with support from governments, should form a consortium of partners, in Africa and outside, to provide funds and expertise to create an African media development facility."

Journalists are usually not trained economists and do not have the background in economics, corporate finance and other subjects helpful to understand the economic and financial sector. Lacking this kind of knowledge and access to information, reporters are often unable to cover economic and financial stories in a meaningful way.

So, at the West Africa Graduate School of Economic and Financial Journalism, we will not only admit graduates with economic qualifications but also graduates from other disciplines and promising journalists who might benefit from the training we will provide. "Naturally, we will ensure that the basics of journalism and mass communications are taught, to buttress the training in economic and financial journalism," Mr Desmond Davies, Editor of Africa Week magazine stated.

"The media, we believe, need to have a meaningful role in economic development and, so, our ultimate goal is to train journalists who would provide credible information that would help citizens make informed decisions and participate in society. Our courses will be geared towards meeting the diverse needs of the media in West Africa. Ultimately, we want to enhance the technical and professional capacities of journalists", he added.

Mr Dominic Cooper, General Secretary of the Chartered Institute of Journalists in the UK stated: "This is very good news for journalists in Africa. They have not always had the opportunities available to their counterparts in other advanced countries so a school that aims to build on the skills of journalists is very timely indeed. Not only will this provide journalists with the relevant skills in economic and financial issues, but will also make the profession more attractive to other financial and economic experts in Africa".

Trans Africa Media Trust has teamed up with CECOS London College to start short programmes for journalists in financial and economic issues. The first programme will start in September this year for six weeks.

Dr Mudassir Tanveer, Programme Coordinator at CECOS London College said: "We are very happy to be associated with Trans Africa Media Trust. We have a strong African student population here so the prospect of having a programme centred on training African journalists is exciting. We already have professional courses in accountancy and IT so journalists who would like to pursue a career in any of these areas are most welcome to do so. On the other hand, too, we may even find some of our students interested in pursuing a career in financial and economic journalism with us. We plan to start a programme in Ghana whereby students can do part of their programme in Ghana and finish the course in the UK. This new venture is therefore a welcome opportunity for us".

Notes to editors

Trans Africa Media Trust is the training division of Trans Africa Publishing Company Limited. Trans Africa Publishing Company publishes Africa Week magazine, www.africaweekmagazine.com, Sky High magazine and Ghana Business and Holiday Guide. The company also undertakes publishing contracts for other companies and is also involved in conferences and training programmes.

Courses and programmes to be offered will include:

· How to use Securities and Exchange Commission Data to Report on Companies, Banking and Financial services crisis, Covering Bond markets

· Development Economics and Finance, Interpretation of Financial statements

· Audit and supervision (Audit Framework), Public Sector reforms, Capital controls, Debt Relief and HIPC Initiatives, Corporate Governance, Corporate Social Responsibility, Development Aid New media technologies and business reporting, Reporting on commodities market, Derivatives, Dollarization, Foreign Direct Investment, Foreign

· Exchange crisis, Globalisation, International Trade and the World Trade Organisation, Stock Market Theory and Practice

· Covering Currency Markets, Covering the World Bank- Insight into the World Bank and its affiliated agencies, Writing market comments, UN Conventions and their impact on business- e.g., Kyoto Protocol and climate change,

· Micro-lending and microfinance finance development in poor countries

· Mass Media and Economic Development

For more information about these programmes, please contact Bernard Otabil at:

14-15 Colman House, Empire Square, High Street, London SE20 7EX or

Telephone: 0044 208 776 6196, email: otabil@africaweekmagazine.com