Business journalism can help Africa fulfil its promise
investment in Africa by increasing transparency and accountability in capital markets, improving public access to important financial information, and holding the powerful – in government and business – accountable for corruption and wrong-doing that sets back economic development. Business news and data also help African companies identify new opportunities on the continent and abroad, which creates jobs and drives innovation.
Supporting economic journalism is the goal of the Bloomberg Africa Media Innovators forum, which took place this week in Johannesburg – and the Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa of which it is part. Both grew out of the same principle: Better financial data and information leads to more transparency, which helps investors make better decisions, which moves markets and spurs growth.
This is the standard to which business journalism should aspire, and the Forum brought together leaders in media, representatives from Africa’s major capital exchanges, tech entrepreneurs, and others to develop strategies on how to achieve it.
In addition to sponsoring this week’s forum, the initiative, which we launched last year in Johannesburg along with the Ford Foundation, works with leading universities in three of Africa’s fastest-growing economies – Kenya, South Africa, and Nigeria – to train new business and financial journalists and help others build new skills, like economic data analysis. More than 600 African journalists participated in the programme in its first year.
Next year, we’ll expand access to it through the creation of new scholarships, internships, and courses across the continent while also making parts of the curriculum available online. We’re also working with African non-profit organisations to find new ways to use business journalism to spread economic opportunity.
More transparent markets help ensure that economic growth benefits the largest number of people. Reliable, accessible economic data also reduces risks for businesses and investors, and helps governments target resources to where they are most needed. It also helps them measure the impact of their work and identify opportunities for improvement.
That’s why, in addition to sponsoring this week’s forum, Bloomberg Philanthropies has supported efforts to gather better data on economic development in sub-Saharan Africa, which helps draw attention to opportunities and highlights initiatives that have been most effective at improving people’s lives.
We’ve also worked closely with the governments of Rwanda and Congo to create job training programmes for women in industries that are central to each country’s national economic development goals, using data to measure the impact those programmes are having on the lives of women and families so that the most effective can be replicated.
On the other side of the Atlantic, Bloomberg Philanthropies was honoured to join with US President Barack Obama to host the USAfrica Business Forum last summer to strengthen our economic ties and spur more investment across borders.
We are committed to Africa, because more than ever, the continent is brimming with opportunity. It is home to four of the world’s 10 fastest-growing economies.
The population of subSaharan Africa’s 11 largest economies has grown by 41 percent since 2000. Over the past 10 years, the gross domestic product of those countries has grown by 51 percent – more than twice the global rate.
By supporting great economic journalism, we can ensure that African economies continue to grow, creating new opportunities and benefits for hundreds of millions of people.
Michael R Bloomberg is the founder of Bloomberg LP & Bloomberg Philanthropies, and was 108th Mayor of New York City.