Hundreds of aspiring business journalists will benefit from a Ksh900 million training kitty set up by American billionaire cum philanthropist Michael Bloomberg. The scholarships are aimed at encouraging training of reporters in six African universities including the University of Nairobi and Strathmore Business School to tell the continent’s story.
Bloomberg Corporate Giving Officer Erana Stennett said the college education grants will cover tuition for the target students over the four-year training. “The financial support will cover the entire tuition fees for the course, but will obviously be tied to excellence,” Ms Stennett said.
The scholarships are some of the six programmes in the Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa aimed at enhancing capacity in business reporting in the continent touted as having the brightest prospects in the world for investors. The agency is also planning to offer internships for graduates of the programme, alongside an ongoing training for practising journalists in Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria.
A huge population estimated at a billion people, and vast natural resources including recent oil finds are the top incentives attracting massive investments in Africa. Kenya is among the top destinations of foreign investment in Africa with multinationals setting up their regional offices in Nairobi.
Information Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i warned that lack of capacity to understand and question business contracts among key media practitioners could expose the country to fraud. Mr Bloomberg, while launching the programme, said that having a vibrant media was critical to achieving the projected growth and the requisite transparency in doing business.
“Reliable data and financial analysis bring transparency to markets and promote sound economic development. They can help keep Africa growing and creating opportunities,” he said in South Africa last year, while launching the three-year training programme to build media capacity.
