| FBN AFRICA: Hope of Africans' own CNN |
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| Written by Laolu Akande | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Friday, 20 July 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Laolu Akande, New York With an unprecedented level of financing from a US bank, a US-based Nigerian communication expert and former UNICEF official announced the formation of what is expected to become Africa's own independent satellite news network reporting about Africa around the world.
Besides, the Ijaw-Andoni born Dr. Aaron F. Nmungwun is partnering with the eminent historian and producer of the world famous TV series- THE AFRICANS: A TRIPLE HERITAGE, Professor Ali Mazrui to launch the FBN Africa broadcasting network on Wednesday evening in New York.
"We as Africans, we have been assimilating CNN and other western versions of the news before now, the time has now come for us to tell our own stories," Nmungwun said in New York on Wednesday. For generations, Africa has lacked a voice in the international community, said Dr. Aaron F. Nmungwun, CEO and Founder of Foisi Broadcasting Network. "FBN Africa will be a reflection of Africa and the emergence of the African perspective on others in the world."
Significantly a US financing firm, Sofitel Capital Corporation has granted FBN Africa a $60 million medium term loan to finance the project whose first phase would take off in Nigeria with the construction of 16 TV stations across the country starting in Abuja, where a superstation would be built. Nmungwun said the construction of the stations of the FBN Africa network for the first phase would soon commence and would be done between 10-21 months and by August next year the network would already be on the air. Both Mazrui and Nmungwun were at the launching of FBN Africa in New York, and the event also marked the 21st anniversary of the TV series The Africans produced and presented by Professor Mazrui. Mazrui who is the chairman of FBN Africa's Advisory Board said the project represents "Africa's catching up with the positive aspects of globalization." He said in the area of information, Africa was still lagging behind, and "we need to catch-up."
Lamenting how far behind Africa is in the arena of information revolution, Mazrui gave an example that 2 major US colleges have more computers that one particular country in Africa with a population of 20 m people. The notable African scholar observed however that Africa is making progress politically, and also in the area of cellular phone communication. But he said to make the information revolution complete, "we need to enter into the mass media by radio and TV and greater participation on the Internet."
He identified the FBN Africa as the enterprise that is the "facilitator for Africa to catch up with the information revolution." Adding that while some government-owned TV stations have also started moving in that direction, "we need a pan-African umbrella and that is where FBN Africa comes in."
Mazrui described his role in the project as that of an elderstatesman, promising to personally feature once the TV gets on the air. Nmungwun said Mazrui has been with the FBN Africa team "from the beginning." Other board members of the FBN Africa, which is chaired by Nmungwun, include Mazrui, retired Gen. David Jemibewon, Mrs. Halima O. Adasi, a founding partner and company's Executive Vice President for Administration, Mr. Debola Omooba, a Lagos-based lawyer, Funke Adekoya, SAN, and Dr. Tunde Soleye.
The first phase construction which he said would include the construction of stations receivers, transmissions, studios constitute a $30m complement of the loan as the cost of equipments alone.
According to FBN Africa, the funding would be used to finance the first phase of the construction and operation of what is being billed as the first Pan-African broadcast radio and television network. Similarly the project also has the British Telecom as the primary technical partner and also GlobeComm Systems of Hauppauge, New York.
At an impressive ceremony oat the World class Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York on Wednesday evening, the Dr. Nmungwun said the FBN Africa TV network would be launched throughout Africa and would be received in cities across the continent. He disclosed that the Nigerian federal government as also granted the FBN Africa a Direct Broadcasting Service, DBS-license which would enable the station to broadcast from Nigeria to other parts of Africa and the world. After the first phase of the project which would result in the building and operation of 16 TV stations of FBN Africa in Nigerian major cities, the project would then move to South Africa, Kenya and Senegal for the second phase of its operation.
Nmungwun said while the main headquarters of the FBN Africa would be in Abuja, the French headquarters would be in Senegal.
FBN Africa was formed according to the company was formed with the goal of establishing the first pan-African satellite/terrestrial radio and television broadcast networks and Internet services.
Dr. Aaron F. Nmungwun, a Ph.D. holder in Communication had media working experience in the US with television companies such as HBO, Showtime, Black Entertainment Television, NBC, CBS, ABC, VH-1, Time Warner, MTV, Columbia Pictures, Disney and Nickelodeon. For over 20 years, he has been a part of winning teams in the television industry, working as an executive, adviser and as a consultant with well-known entertainment, media and broadcast television companies.
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Posted by Robot| 20.07.2007 10:55