By Solace AMANKWA
The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has launched the West African Media Development Fund (WAMDeF) in Accra.
The fund is to be used to improve and expand access to finance and technical assistance to private media entrepreneurs by lending and investing in private media enterprises.
Products that would be offered by the fund include quick operating loans of up to $10,000, repayable between 60- 120 days, short term loans between $10,000 and $50,000, repayable between 120 days and two years, medium term loans between $50,000 and $100,000, repayable between three and five years and long term loans between $100,000 and $200,000, repayable between five and seven years.
The loans would attract small interests up to about 10%t to be charged on case by case basis
This would provide innovative and customized financial and capacity-building solutions to private media companies in West Africa.
The WAMDeF would also strive to engender the emergence of successful, vibrant, dynamic, diversified and sustainable media enterprises, optimize value to stakeholders and contribute to the strengthening of democracy in the ECOWAS region.
The Executive Director of the Foundation, Professor Kwame Karikari, speaking at the launch, disclosed that the idea of setting up the fund was conceived in 2005 by MFWA, due to the rapid change in the media landscape.
He said the MFWA was motivated by the severely challenging economic and financial situations of the media in the region, where most of the privately owned and independent media organizations were established on weak capitalization and under shaky economic regimes.
The Chief Executive Officer of the African Media Initiative, Adamou Mahtarba, who launched the fund, last week, observed that the media was the oxygen of the body of democracy, adding that without it, media democracy would not thrive.
He said the fund would be of great importance to the media in Africa, which is faced with capital, political challenges and the rapidly changing technological landscape.
He urged all private media companies to take advantage of the opportunity to improve their working conditions.
"It was established as a regional, independent, non-profit, non-governmental organization to defend and promote the rights and freedoms of the media, and generally, to help expand the boundaries of freedom of speech and expression in West Africa," he said.
The Chief Executive Officer of WAMDeF, Kwesi Owusu Asare, noted that the fund was targeted at emerging and already established private media enterprises with real or potentially solid management and financial performance in the sub- region.
He said such media groups should also have the potential to add value to democratic processes in the sub-region by increasing access to information, encouraging political dialogue and catering to a diverse range of viewpoints among members of the society.
The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has launched the West African Media Development Fund (WAMDeF) in Accra.
The fund is to be used to improve and expand access to finance and technical assistance to private media entrepreneurs by lending and investing in private media enterprises.
Products that would be offered by the fund include quick operating loans of up to $10,000, repayable between 60- 120 days, short term loans between $10,000 and $50,000, repayable between 120 days and two years, medium term loans between $50,000 and $100,000, repayable between three and five years and long term loans between $100,000 and $200,000, repayable between five and seven years.
The loans would attract small interests up to about 10%t to be charged on case by case basis
This would provide innovative and customized financial and capacity-building solutions to private media companies in West Africa.
The WAMDeF would also strive to engender the emergence of successful, vibrant, dynamic, diversified and sustainable media enterprises, optimize value to stakeholders and contribute to the strengthening of democracy in the ECOWAS region.
The Executive Director of the Foundation, Professor Kwame Karikari, speaking at the launch, disclosed that the idea of setting up the fund was conceived in 2005 by MFWA, due to the rapid change in the media landscape.
He said the MFWA was motivated by the severely challenging economic and financial situations of the media in the region, where most of the privately owned and independent media organizations were established on weak capitalization and under shaky economic regimes.
The Chief Executive Officer of the African Media Initiative, Adamou Mahtarba, who launched the fund, last week, observed that the media was the oxygen of the body of democracy, adding that without it, media democracy would not thrive.
He said the fund would be of great importance to the media in Africa, which is faced with capital, political challenges and the rapidly changing technological landscape.
He urged all private media companies to take advantage of the opportunity to improve their working conditions.
"It was established as a regional, independent, non-profit, non-governmental organization to defend and promote the rights and freedoms of the media, and generally, to help expand the boundaries of freedom of speech and expression in West Africa," he said.
The Chief Executive Officer of WAMDeF, Kwesi Owusu Asare, noted that the fund was targeted at emerging and already established private media enterprises with real or potentially solid management and financial performance in the sub- region.
He said such media groups should also have the potential to add value to democratic processes in the sub-region by increasing access to information, encouraging political dialogue and catering to a diverse range of viewpoints among members of the society.
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