Home » News » AFROMEDI IV / “Stop the Blending”: African media commit to a campaign on public debt | www.l-integration.com – INTEGRATION

AFROMEDI IV / “Stop the Blending”: African media commit to a campaign on public debt | www.l-integration.com – INTEGRATION

169 Views

Ph:DR: A partial view of the participants

At the end of the three-day work, on Thursday March 21, AFRODAD and the African media launch the campaign against African debt “Stop the Blending”. A discussion panel moderated by the Head of AFRODAD, Mrs. Fidélité Nshimiyimana, Her Majesty, the Representative of the Minister of Communication and the Digital Economy and the President of the National Union of Journalists of Ivory Coast ( UNJCI), Mr. Jean-Claude Coulibaly. In turn, the panelists returned to the usefulness of debt and the involvement of journalists in its management: from negotiations to its destination, including the signing of agreements and the trap clauses that put our countries in debt. AFRODAD IV ended with a certificate of participation and tourist visit ceremony.

Aline ASSANKPON

“Humanize reporting on public debt” this is one of the seven communications included in the agenda for three days of work. This took place in a participatory approach and showed the media the existential link between public debt and the population. How little the population cares about the hundreds of billions borrowed by their government for reasons of economic development. The population is often unaware of the merits of this debt in the name of the nation; while it is she who contributes largely to the payment of the debt. As proof, when the Government contracts a debt to create a road infrastructure, by erecting a toll booth for the maintenance of the road, the user pays not only for the maintenance but also and above all for the borrowing of the funds having used for production.

From now on, journalists who are more equipped and seasoned on issues of public debt must give a human face to their reporting by making the link between the debt contracted and taking into account the social aspect of the population. The primary objective of the action of the citizen journalist is to win the hearts and minds of the population. It is about relaunching the debate on the social contract, the democratization of the debt crisis which is linked to the real daily struggles of African citizens. “Continue writing about debt, fight against financial flows and against non-transparency in public debt agreements” declared Ms. Fidélité Nshimiyimana.

“We cannot talk about development without talking about the debts of our countries; but we must not have debts that put us in debt” underlined Mr. Jean-Claude Coulibaly, president of the National Union of Journalists of Ivory Coast (UNJC) during the discussion panel.

How debt allows our countries to escape poverty by taking the path of economic growth, explained Mr. Coulibaly. ”You should not have a negative perception of debt. I salute AFRODAD for allowing specialist African journalists to come together on the issue of debt to reflect on the ways and means allowing our countries to avoid the endless debt traps through investigative work” .

The media must demonstrate self-sacrifice, creativity and determination, urged Ms. Nshimiyimana. In terms of recommendations which can be summarized in three essential points: Firstly, journalists are agents of change who must identify the injustice observed in debt management; Second, it invites governments to bring more transparency into the management of public debts, in particular negotiations and contract clauses. They must not sign contracts of which they do not control the contents; tercio, on behalf of journalists, she calls for more freedom from governments to express themselves on issues of African debt in order to enlighten the population on the importance of the debt, its destination, its usefulness and even the negative aspect of the debt which keeps countries in a sort of infinite dependence.Africa must make rules and apply them. The journalist is an actor, a provider of information. How can Africa speak for itself if it has to go into eternal debt? Asks Her Majesty, the Representative of the Ivorian Minister of Information. “Strengthening is a permanent quest and government accountability should be a reality. Certainly, debt is an essential and even fundamental element of our economies. And it is right that the journalists gathered in Ivory Coast are committed to building narratives for the benefit of the well-being of the community on public debts with greater credibility and responsibility”.

A ceremony to award the Certificate of Participation to AFROMEDI IV allowed the curtains to be closed on the session of the 2024 edition.

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.