CFI welcomes 20 young African media executives to Paris to complete their Master’s in Media Management

The event provides the young professionals with the perfect opportunity to meet many French media executives and journalists and exchange ideas about their profession. It also gives them the chance to discuss new forms of media at a mini 'bar camp' conference organised by Silicon Sentier on Thursday, 10 October.

CFI launched the first online Master's in Media Management in 2011, in partnership with the Lille Higher College of Journalism (ESJ Lille) and the Institute of Business Administration at the University of Lille III. The course, which is equivalent to 'Bac+5' level (i.e. five completed years of higher education), is designed for executive and mid-level managers of the media in French-speaking Africa, and enables young professionals with great potential to further their university studies and consolidate the management practices that they have already acquired while working in the field.

Eighteen months on, the first graduates from this high-level training course have arrived in France for an end-of-study trip.

The students will first stop over at ESJ Lille to defend their end-of-study thesis before a panel, and will then travel on to Paris, where they will receive a warm welcome from CFI and be given the opportunity of sharing their experiences with professionals in the French media, such as France Télévisions and Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"We wanted this final trip to France to supplement the 18 months that our students have spent learning remotely from behind a computer screen. These face-to-face meetings will plunge them into the day-to-day life of the French media, and help them gain a real understanding of other management methods," explains Etienne Fiatte, CFI's Managing Director.

- Monday, 7 October: Tour of the various departments of Agence France-Presse, and a meeting with Amina Ben Cheikh, AFP's head of Business Development for mobile content and new media.
- Morning of Wednesday, 9 October: Visit to the headquarters of France Télévisions, most notably for a meeting with the Director of Digital Strategy, Philippe Deloeuvre.
- Thursday, 10 October: A mini 'bar camp' conference at CFI focusing on the topics of entrepreneurship in the media and innovation in new media. With Julien Jacob, co-founder of the Social Media Club and an expert in entrepreneurship in the media; Frédéric Bardeau, co-founder of Simplon.co; Stanislas de Livonnière (Smadeo) and Leon Buchard (Nitrogr.am).

Mangana Adoum ADOUM MANGANA ADOUM, Chad
Director of Education and Communication, Ministry of Culture
Project: Setting up a journalism training centre at Chad's National Radio and Television Broadcasting Centre (ONRTV).

Carole Virginie YEMELONG YEMATA, Cameroon
Journalist, Radio Sweet FM
Project: Increasing the audience figures of an urban radio station and advertising the programmes produced by the station.

Inoussa MAIGA, Burkina Faso
Head of media programming at the production company Jade Productions
Project: Jade Productions, between journalism and communication
How can television reports be produced while avoiding any conflicts of interest?

The Master's aims to strengthen the skills of media executives from North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa by teaching them the principal techniques of management: human resources, finance, project management, personal development, freedom of the press, marketing.
For 18 months, each student receives online guidance and support from a qualified professional as they devise and then implement a management project within their organisation, be it a private company, a civil service department or an NGO.
This distance training course is open to all executive and mid-level managers who hold a diploma equivalent to 'Bac+4' level (i.e. four completed years of higher education) and have at least five years' professional experience. The training course costs €4,000, of which CFI may contribute up to €3,000 for each student.

"The creation of a Master's that was affordable to young African executives formed an integral part of our mission to foster development. There is currently a shortage of strong managers in the African media, and we are proud to welcome the first graduates who will undoubtedly go on to play a leading role in the media in their respective countries," explains Etienne Fiatte.
"For us, it's also a matter of identifying the sector's future high-fliers: in addition to the end-of-study programme, CFI will be holding one-to-one interviews with each student so that we can get to know them better and gain a greater understanding of their professional aspirations."