Afri'kibaaru

France Médias Monde, CFI and the French Development Agency (AFD) are officially launching the Afri'Kibaaru project (Information in the project's African languages), which will build upon RFI's solid foothold in the Greater Sahel to give listeners there more content in Mandinka, Fula and Hausa and cater for 130 million potential speakers, most of whom live in Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, Chad, Nigeria and Cameroon. The project will also include training carried out by CFI and France Médias Monde. Once trained, a wide network of journalists and media outlets at local, national and regional level will be more capable of leading public debate on topics related to sustainable development.

RFI broadens editorial output in Sahelian languages

RFI will produce more programmes in African languages as a result of backing the multinational African teams that are part of its editorial teams in Dakar (Senegal) and Lagos (Nigeria). These teams are supported by a network of local correspondents throughout the region and also benefit from RFI's editorial resources in French and its other languages. As part of the project, RFI will hire around thirty African journalists and technicians and train them on how to produce and distribute news and magazines that tackle climate change, gender, health, education and other similar subjects.

A Fulani editorial office will be established in Dakar to provide two hours of programming in Fula every day, on top of the weekly magazines that are already running. The Mandinka team, on the other hand, will produce two hours of content every single day. For the past 5 years, only one hour of Mandinka programming was broadcast per day.

The Hausa editorial office based in Lagos will also produce more daily content with a new magazine addressing gender equality as part of a half-hour news programme.
This improved news service in Mandinka and Fula will consist of daily programmes that cover regional, African and world news and thematic magazines related to issues of sustainable development: Appels sur l'actualité, a debate show in which listeners can join in; Débat du jour, which challenges opinions on a daily news item; C'est pas du vent (a magazine about the environment) and Priorité Santé, with first-hand reports and interviews; and Magazine des femmes, a magazine for women that tackles women's rights and their status, also provided in Hausa.

In addition to these programmes, there will also be innovative digital content in all three languages that promotes freedom of expression, public debate and intercultural discussion.
These programmes broadcast in Sahelian languages will reach a large audience via around thirty FM transmitters owned by RFI. Shortwave radio will also help to reach rural areas. Another 250 RFI partner radio stations broadcasting in Mandinka, Fula and Hausa, which already broadcast RFI in these three languages, will be able to receive these new programmes. The more diverse service should intrigue a growing number of local radio stations. All of these programmes will continue to be available digitally as podcasts, online and on certain apps. Lastly, their growing presence on social networks will round off the many ways to listen.

France Médias Monde will also offer activities that will allow for the sharing of expertise that is useful to colleagues and local media. These activities will include taking programmes on the road while providing masterclasses as well as training seminars, in conjunction with the training scheme deployed for the project by CFI, the group's media development agency.

CFI trains and upskills African media

CFI will provide substantial training to better prepare local media outlets to provide news and raise public awareness of sustainable development issues and solutions, primarily in Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal and Chad. 48 media outlets plus opinion leaders and members of civil society organizations will benefit from support throughout the project for the production and dissemination of content related to sustainable development in French and several languages of the Sahel region. This project will make it easier for the public to access reliable news and will give local media greater scope to engage in inclusive debate.

Information and development

The Afri'Kibaaru project was created almost two years ago by France Médias Monde and CFI and is now being implemented. AFD will provide €15m of funding for the project over three and a half years (42 months) (€11.5m for editorial development supported by France Médias Monde and €3.5m for skills training provided by CFI) as Official Development Assistance (ODA). The UN has clearly identified the media's contribution to development. It believes that access to free and balanced information provided by an impartial and independent media is a cornerstone of any prosperous and peaceful society.

This philosophy is shared by the OECD's Development Assistance Committee, which makes any initiative that allows the free and uncensored flow of information eligible for this type of funding. This project also falls within the framework of the Governance and Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI) mandates that AFD received in 2016 and 2018, in which the media are fully involved.

Afri'Kibaaru draws from the specific and complementary French expertise of France Médias Monde, CFI and AFD to contribute to sustainable development in the interests of those living in the Greater Sahel.