By Godwill Arthur-Mensah
Accra, May 17, GNA -Ethiopia and Morocco have put in bids to host the next African Media Convention (AMC) in May 2025.
They are the only countries that made proposals to hosting the largest media gathering in Africa, at the close of applications on Friday, May 17,2024.
The bidding teams of both nations presented their proposals to delegates before the curtains were drawn on the third AMC, which Ghana hosted in its capital city of Accra.
The Ethiopian touted their country’s long-standing history as the origin humanity with a rich tapestry of the arts, culture and ancient monuments.
The event, they said, would be hosted in the Adwa Museum, located in the central area of Addis Ababa. It is a public institution dedicated to human history, art and culture.
Its permanent collection numbers some eight million works.
The Adwa Museum was established in 2024, largely based on the collections of various items used during the Adwa war.
The team said though the people had gone through a lot challenges since their colonisation, they had prevailed as a resilient, beautiful and progressive people.
The country, they said, was ready with its infrastructure, resources and favourable visa subsidies to host the event.
Two delegates were allowed were allowed to speak on each bid.
Though their bid was supported by one of the delegates, the other opposed it, saying accepting it would be tantamount to endorsing that country’s rather “high record of jailing journalists”.
Morocco’s bidding representative for his part, spoke about the longstanding peaceful co-existence among the diverse ethnic groupings of the country.
He said Morocco boasted a unique presentation of peoples of Berber, African, Arabian and European ancestry enjoying a beautiful social cohesion.
He said the people were very welcoming, the media was vibrant and the infrastructure were available to give the delegates a beautiful and impactful experience.
The Moroccan Government was ready to host the event, he said.
Both delegates who made contributions after the presentation supported the bid, saying that endorsing Morocco would ensure the inclusivity in the prosecution of the African Media agenda.
They said the first three events had been hosted by countries in the Eastern, Southern and Western regions of the continent. Therefore, it was just right to give the next opportunity to the Northern region on a rotational approach basis.
They contended that every country had their peculiar challenges regarding media freedoms and limitations.
However, a country’s decision to host the Convention should be considered as their willingness to learn from best practices for advancement.
Meanwhile, the Steering Committee of the African Media Convention, chaired by Mr Churchill Otieno, also the President of the Africa Editors Forum, will make a final determination of the next host nation of AMC in the coming days, taking into consideration the facts on the ground.
The three-day AMC was held on the theme: “The African Media We Want: Enhancing Freedom, Innovation, and Environmental Sustainability in a Dynamic Media Landscape”.
The event brought together hundreds of participants across the continent, including policymakers, Ministers of State, academia, researchers and media practitioners.
The AMC is an annual conference providing a platform to reflect on the fundamental role of journalism on the continent, celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom and deliberate on measures to safeguard media freedoms.
The inaugural Convention took place in Arusha, Tanzania in 2022, followed by a successful second gathering in Lusaka, Zambia in 2023.
The forum also focuses on promotion of access to information, the safety of journalists and media viability in the African Union Member States.
It’s being organised by UNESCO Addis Ababa Liaison Office to AU and UNECA, the African Union, hosted by Ghana’s Ministry of Information, the Ghana Journalists Association, with various media partners.
The stakeholders have collaborated to develop an action plan and would advocate policies that foster a free, vibrant, and impactful press across the continent.
GNA