PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
Ghana's President attributes Africa’s rise to modern communication
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - Africa’s rise in the first decade of the 21st century should be credited to the harnessing of communication in all its manifestations as a tool for sustainable development, Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama said in a keynote statement to the first All Africa Public Relations and Communication Summit that opened here Wednesday.
“It is our belief that the contributions of communication in its tangible and intangible forms cannot be overestimated,” Mahama said, underlining the centrality of communication to the consolidation of accountable governance in Africa.
On behalf of the president, Ghana’s Information and Media Relations Minister Mahama Aya Rigen read the statement to the conference holding at the African Union (AU) headquarters under the theme ‘The Rising Africa: The Imperative of Communication.’
Public relations officials from both government and private sectors in 14 African countries are taking part in the three-day meeting that seeks to find ways of reshaping the perception of the continent in the new century.
“African countries that have failed to heed the clarion call to liberate their communication environment have invariably denied themselves the opportunity to harness the enormous intellectual and entrepreneurial capital of their people,” said the Ghanaian President.
Stressing that communication is the foundation of good management in every institution, President Mahama said ''Africa is rising because Africa is communicating more effectively.”
“Under the leadership of a more focused AU, which has adopted a more activist and interventionist attitude towards African challenges, our continent has started to grapple successfully with some of its most intractable political and territorial disputes,” he said.
The Ghanaian leader said all over Africa, the availability of communications and accessibility to communications has raised awareness about the challenges that confront populations and which must be engaged and defeated.
Himself a PR and Communication professional, President Mahama said that a cursory scrutiny of governance systems in Africa would reveal a strong correlation between the availability and accessibility of communication, the prevalence of the twin freedoms of speech and the press and accelerated development and economic prosperity.
Observing that the presence and availability of several communication channels cannot but contribute to good management, he said: “The culture of transparency and accountability that the excess of communication creates is a guarantor for effective management of public property and national accountability.”
The conference has brought together about 200 PR professionals from Nigeria, Ghana, Gambia, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, South Africa, Botswana, Libya and Sudan.
There are also observers from India, Ireland and the United Kingdom.
-0- PANA AR/SEG 8May2013
“It is our belief that the contributions of communication in its tangible and intangible forms cannot be overestimated,” Mahama said, underlining the centrality of communication to the consolidation of accountable governance in Africa.
On behalf of the president, Ghana’s Information and Media Relations Minister Mahama Aya Rigen read the statement to the conference holding at the African Union (AU) headquarters under the theme ‘The Rising Africa: The Imperative of Communication.’
Public relations officials from both government and private sectors in 14 African countries are taking part in the three-day meeting that seeks to find ways of reshaping the perception of the continent in the new century.
“African countries that have failed to heed the clarion call to liberate their communication environment have invariably denied themselves the opportunity to harness the enormous intellectual and entrepreneurial capital of their people,” said the Ghanaian President.
Stressing that communication is the foundation of good management in every institution, President Mahama said ''Africa is rising because Africa is communicating more effectively.”
“Under the leadership of a more focused AU, which has adopted a more activist and interventionist attitude towards African challenges, our continent has started to grapple successfully with some of its most intractable political and territorial disputes,” he said.
The Ghanaian leader said all over Africa, the availability of communications and accessibility to communications has raised awareness about the challenges that confront populations and which must be engaged and defeated.
Himself a PR and Communication professional, President Mahama said that a cursory scrutiny of governance systems in Africa would reveal a strong correlation between the availability and accessibility of communication, the prevalence of the twin freedoms of speech and the press and accelerated development and economic prosperity.
Observing that the presence and availability of several communication channels cannot but contribute to good management, he said: “The culture of transparency and accountability that the excess of communication creates is a guarantor for effective management of public property and national accountability.”
The conference has brought together about 200 PR professionals from Nigeria, Ghana, Gambia, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, South Africa, Botswana, Libya and Sudan.
There are also observers from India, Ireland and the United Kingdom.
-0- PANA AR/SEG 8May2013
