The prize was bestowed to Botoh during a ceremony held in Kigali in September 2022.
“Classic Optic” is an eyewear dispensary, specializing in the sale of ophthalmic lenses, lenses, frames and eyeglass accessories.
The shop is based in Kigali where it has two branches: one in Remera, on the ground floor of the “Umuyenzi Plaza”, and the other in the city center, on the ground floor of MIC building.
Samson Botoh B. is a married man and a father of two children. He holds a Master’s degree in business management from HEC Abidjan. Botoh B is alsoa graduate from the school of optics, (ISFOP-Abidjan) LOKO.
Speaking with IGIHE, he revealed that he left his country in 2009 to pursue his passion. At every turn of the conversation, Botoh would bring up his enthusiasm for these glasses, saying, “Sight is life!”
Botoh plans to expand his business countrywide, and possibly across the African continent.
He took this opportunity to express his gratitude for the organizers of the Pandev 2022 prize, for choosing him among the rest of the skilled Africans that were equally deserving. He also gave credit to the zeal and professionalism of his employees.
Their dedication is centered on top notch services to clients and the zeal for the pursuit of excellence.
The favourable environment, incentives offered to foreign investors and the strong demand for quality products and professionalism are among other reasons that lured Botoh to set up business in Rwanda.
Padev Prize is organized every year. It is bestowed to individuals from various sectors with outstanding contribution to the development of their countries and the African continent as well.
Under the name “Rwanda Notify,” QT Global Software Ltd. will establish this system locally, making Rwanda the second country in Africa to adopt this contact tracing technology.
Commenting on the development; Minister Paula Ingabire said: “While traditional contact tracing efforts are effective, technologies like Exposure Notifications augment these efforts and make the job simpler.”
“Our job within the technology community is to find ways of collaboration to solve societies most pressing problems, this is an example of people joining forces to combat a virus that affects us all,” said Robert Kainamura, CEO of QT Global Software.
Upon activating Rwanda Notify on iOS or downloading the app on Android, users can receive or send exposure notifications when they or their contacts have tested positive for COVID-19.
The phone exchanges random, anonymous codes through Bluetooth with the phones of nearby people who also have enabled Rwanda Notify on their smartphones.
Whenever a Rwanda Notify user tests positive for COVID-19 and adds their verification code to the app, Rwanda Notify sends anonymous notifications to any other users who have been near the infected person in the past two weeks.
This lets the user get the care they need quickly and helps prevent them from spreading COVID-19 to other people.
Rwanda Notify is entirely voluntary and prioritizes every user’s privacy and confidentiality. The Exposure Notification framework is designed to safeguard and avoid connecting any personal data with an individual’s device.
For example, the identity and location of the users are not known or kept by the app. Rwanda Notify gives the power to slow the spread of COVID-19 in Rwanda by keeping everyone, their loved ones, and the community at large safe.
On Android, the Rwanda Notify app can be downloaded on Google Play; if you have an iPhone, opt-in to Exposure Notifications in your device settings.
{{About QT Global Software Ltd}}
QT Global Software Ltd is a new IT company determined to deliver the best custom, enterprise-grade digital products that solve the business needs of its clients. It is furthermore committed to enhancing the competence and competitiveness of its clients by enabling them to succeed through the power of information technology security.
{{About Apple Inc.}}
Apple Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets mobile communication and media devices and personal computers and sells various related software, services, accessories, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications. Apple is committed to bringing the best user experience to its customers through its innovative hardware, software, and services.
{{About Google}}
Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and helpful. Through products and platforms like Search, Maps, Gmail, Android, Google Play, Chrome, and YouTube, Google plays a meaningful role in the daily lives of billions of people and has become one of the most widely-known companies in the world. Google is a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc.
Gen Muhoozi, the first born son of Uganda’s President who also serves as the Senior Presidential Advisor on Special Operations is in Rwanda for the third time since the beginning of this year.
Gen Muhoozi was last in Rwanda in March 2022.
Also present at the mass sporting event were the Minister of Sports, Aurore Mimosa Munyangaju; the Mayor of Kigali City, Pudence Rubingisa and Ugandan journalist, Andrew Mwenda.
The sporting event serves to make Kigali a green city while promoting a healthy lifestyle.
The bi-monthly Car Free Day usually takes place between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. every first and third Sunday of the month, bringing together city dwellers for physical fitness exercises.
The exercise started in 2016, aimed promoting healthy lifestyle among Rwandans and help them benefit from other health activities like screening for non-communicable diseases.
The Car Free Day provides a platform to educate people on healthy lifestyle choices in general and creates awareness that roads are not only built for vehicles but also for pedestrians.
Among others, the mass sporting event helps to reduce air pollution.
The sporting event held on Sunday saw participants setting off from BK Arena and ran through Gishushu to the premises of Prime Minister’s Office and Kigali Heights in Kimihurura.
They also received messages encouraging them to intensify efforts in the fight against Breast Cancer.
Participants were also urged to go for regular diagnosis because the type of cancer can be cured when detected early.
He comes to Rwanda few days after he was promoted from the rank of Lieutenant General to General in the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF).
Gen Muhoozi was last in Rwanda in March 2022 for a three-day visit that was concluded with a donation of Inyambo cows from President Kagame.
The visit aimed at mending bilateral ties between the two neighbouring countries that had deteriorated since 2017.
Muhoozi later revealed that Kagame gifted him ten cows.
On the first day of his visit to Rwanda on Monday 14th March 2022, Gen Muhoozi was received by Chargé d’Affaires at Uganda’s Embassy in Kigali, Anne Katusiime along with senior officers from the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) upon arrival at Kigali International Airport.
He was received by President Paul Kagame on the same day. On the second day, Gen Muhoozi visited Kigali Genocide Memorial where he paid homage to victims of the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi laid there and other facilities including Kigali Arena.
In Rwandan culture, cows represent a very significant symbol of friendship and are considered part of the best wealth a person can ever possess.
Cows were the only token that would be given for dowry or as a present to a friend in Rwanda. Even today, a cow is still considered the best present one can ever give a beloved one. Be it a wedding, graduation or a birthday party, cow giving makes the occasion more colourful and real.
It was not the first time Kagame was giving cows to the family of Museveni.
On 31st July 2011, President Kagame gave cows to his counterpart of Uganda, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni who was on a visit to Rwanda.
At the time, Museveni was joining Rwanda for a community work to build a school for Nine Year Basic Education in Kanombe. Museveni pledged a contribution worth US$300,000 for completion of the school.
Towards the end of the same year, President Paul Kagame who was in Uganda was given 20 cows by Museveni.
This year’s donation of cows to Gen Muhoozi was considered as a great symbol evidencing that efforts to restore bilateral ties to normal are yielding good results.
Rwanda, Uganda relations worsened since 2017 where Rwanda expressed concerns over Rwandans who travel to Uganda for business purposes but were abducted, imprisoned and tortured accused of being spies.
Rwanda also accused Uganda of hosting dissidents posing threat to national security.
In 2019, the Government of Rwanda closed Gatuna border and officially advised citizens against travelling to Uganda for their security following testimonies of over 1000 Rwandans tortured and deported from Uganda.
In August 2019, President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame signed a memorandum of understanding ‘Luanda Agreement’ in a bid to solve conflicts between both countries.
Negotiations did not yield expected results until efforts to mend Rwanda and Uganda relations took shape in February this year following the visits of Gen Muhoozi.
Since he was involved in the process to restore relations to normal, Gen Muhoozi has been warning Rwanda’s dissidents that they have no place in Uganda. He revealed that no official fighting Rwanda would retain job in Uganda.
Gen Muhoozi also echoed similar message in February this year where he warned Rwanda’s dissident Kayumba Nyamwasa against using his country to threaten the neighbouring country’s security.
His first visit to Rwanda was on 22nd January 2022, a move that was followed by the reopening of Gatuna border.
Later on, Rwanda reopened all land borders on 7th March 2022.
Gen Muhoozi visited Rwanda for the second time on 14th March 2022 where he held talks with President Kagame on pending issues affecting bilateral relations.
On the occasion of his birthday celebration in April this year, Gen Muhoozi said that both countries currently have good relations with optimism that the situation would improve further in the future.
The cabinet meeting held on Friday 14th October 2022, also reviewed existing measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 where they remain in effect to be reviewed after one month upon a health assessment. Read the full statement below:
The details emerged at the launch of the 9th edition of RGS on Friday 14th October 2022.
RGS is an independent annual publication of the RGB that seeks to gauge the state of governance in Rwanda, comprehensively assesses governance in using both primary and secondary data sources.
It is mainly designed to generate credible and reliable data on governance issues, serves as practical tool that drives policy reform in the domain of governance through the identification of areas for improvement and generates actionable recommendations and to contribute to current and authentic knowledge formation about Rwanda.
Like previous editions, the research carried out in this year was entrenched on eight pillars, 35 indicators and 144 variables. The pillars include; :(1) Rule of Law, (2) Political Rights and Civil liberties, (3) Participation and Inclusiveness, (4) Safety and Security,(5) Investing in Human and Social Development, (6)Control of corruption, Transparency and Accountability, (7) Quality of service delivery, (8) Economic and corporate governance.
The CEO of RGB, Dr. Usta Kaitesi has said that the pillars are aimed at promoting transparency and accountability in resources allocation.
They are also aimed at promoting citizens’ inclusiveness and rule of law among others.
As for the overall performance of pillars, five out of eight scored 80% and above, where the Safety and Security leads with a score of 95.53% and remains the highest performing pillar since the introduction of RGS.
The Rule of Law performed at 90.81% while Political Rights and Civil Liberties registered 87.84%. The latter recorded the highest rate of increase (4.04%) compared to the 8th edition.
The pillar of Anti-Corruption, Transparency and Accountability scored 87.31% up from 86.77% while Participation and Inclusiveness scored 87.19% from 84.19% in the previous edition.
Meanwhile, three pillars registered scores below 80%. These include Economic and Corporate Governance which scored 77.85% from 74.65% of the previous edition as well as the Quality of service delivery registered 77.69%.
Among others, the pillar of Investing in human and social development registered the lowest performance of the RGS 9th Edition with a score of 75.81%.
The Deputy Resident Representative the United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) in Rwanda, Varsha Redkar-Palepu congratulated Rwanda for the production and launch of the 9th edition of RGS.
She stressed the need to reflect on the outcome of the RGS 9th edition, and adjust management approach to meet current needs.
The Head of State made the call on Thursday 13th October 2022 as he opened the Youth Connekt Africa Summit 2022 that brought together over 9000 young people.
Kagame was the guest of honour at the summit which was also attended by the Deputy President of Kenya, Rigathi Gachagua who came to Rwanda for the first time after assuming office.
He highlighted that the important forum which was launched in Rwanda ten years ago, has become a powerhouse, bringing together thousands of young people every year, to contribute solutions, and learn from each other.
“Africa is not a ‘continent of problems’. Not at all. Yes, there are problems, but where don’t you find problems? The world over, there are problems. So we have to deal with our own problems, but we are not a continent of problems. At least, we must also, and as leaders, do our part to recognize that young people are equal partners in our development agenda,” he said.
The Head of State said that leaders have a duty to listen to the youth, and work with them. He also advised young people to work hard with a purpose, because its absence of it would make their efforts futile.
“Hard work, even if it is smart work as well, without purpose, is not fulfilling. Therefore, we must also bear in mind the purpose, who we are, what we want to be, where we want to go, and all that driven in our minds by having a purpose,” he said.
“May I add that, with that purpose, you can add a little bit of discipline. Discipline guides us, measures and lets us know the excesses we have to deal with, whether personally or at the level of society,” added Kagame.
Kagame asked the young people if they ever heard someone who became a looser because of discipline and reminded them that it helps to value what a person does.
“So, let’s try it a little bit in our daily lives. It will serve us well. It helps people think, put value to every step of their way. It guides us in the right direction. Whether it is politics, is a bit of discipline. Whichever part of life, it should involve a bit of that. Of course, everything in excess has its own problems. So again, I’m saying, just try even with a little bit, and we will be where we want to be,” he noted.
The President shared Rwanda’s resilience journey. He explained that the country was at its lowest point 28 years ago but people dared to dream big, to give themselves something to look forward to, every day.
To this end, Rwandans worked hard together to overcome division, provide justice, and build prosperity.
“For the past two decades, this vision has become Rwanda’s purpose, and the reason for everything that we do. I always want to thank the people of Rwanda for their understanding and embracing these principles that have taken us this far.
Whatever your purpose, do not get discouraged by doubts. Begin by not doubting yourself. Try to overcome that, and ultimately, you, your family, your country, and our continent, will be better off for it,” Kagame said.
YouthConnekt Summit is taking place for the fifth time since 2012. It was initiated by the Government of Rwanda in collaboration with partners including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).
This year’s edition brought together young people from 22 African countries including Rwanda.
Rwanda’s Minister of Youth, Rosemary Mbabazi thanked President Kagame for relentlessly dedicating time to interact with the youth. She requested young people to take advantage of the summit to gain knowledge helping them to transform the African continent.
UNDP Representative in Rwanda, Maxwell Gomera delivered a touching and inspiring speech where he recounted the story of his mother who used to sell tomatoes to support her family.
His mother could not get the investment she needed for her business since no one would offer such opportunities at the time “Let alone to a woman,” Gomera said.
“No bank would take a chance on her, and it failed to grow to the potential it could have.
Eventually, she had to give up on part of her dream,” he said.
He said he used to help her with her business but since she lacked the investment she needed; ‘her business stayed small, her dreams stayed small’.
Gomera emphasized that young people are facing the same challenges, just like his mother. “Like my mother, young people do not have the access they need. 42% fail to get that funding, these are the things we can solve with the right leadership.”
He proceeded to state how young people should be facilitated in getting investments to take their businesses to the next level since more than 80% in Africa do not reach the level.
The President of Senegal, Macky Sall who delivered remarks virtually said that the youth needs to be empowered as the future of the African continent.
He explained that his country allocates 26% of national budget for education and training aimed at securing the youth’s future.
The Deputy President of the Republic of Kenya, Rigathi Gachagua inspired young people attending the summit to take part in the decision making in all areas of life “Take your rightful place in decision making.”
On Wednesday 12th October 2022, the UN General Assembly condemned Russia’s declaration that it had annexed four Ukrainian regions.
The motion passed with 143 countries out of 193 members voting in favor and only 5 against. Meanwhile, 35 countries abstained from the ballot.
The five countries which voted against the resolution include Belarus, North Korea, Nicaragua, Russia and Syria.
The majority of countries that abstained are from the African continent, in addition to China and India.
The African countries include; Algeria, Burundi, Central African Republic, Congo, Eritrea, Lesotho, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Guinea, Namibia, Mozambique, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Togo, Uganda, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.
Others outside Africa are; Armenia, Bolivia, China, Cuba, Honduras, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lao, Mongolia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Viet Nam.
Following the votes; Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the 143 countries which endorsed the resolution and expressed optimism that Russia will reverse the annexation decision.
In May 2024, football veterans from across the world will come to Rwanda to participate in the VCWC 2024. The tournament will be taking place in Africa for the first time.
In preparations of the tournament, a promotional tour dubbed ‘Legends in Rwanda’ kicked off in Kigali City on Wednesday 12th October 2022.
‘Legends in Rwanda’ tour seeks to promote the 2024 Veteran Clubs World Championship to attract global participation, mobilize the Rwandan and African to be part of the event, promote Visit Rwanda campaign and recruit business, institutional, operational and media partners as well.
The promotional tour was organized by the International Federation of Football Veterans (FIFVE).
The official launch of the promotional tour brought together legendary football players including Roger Milla from Cameroun, Khalilou Fadiga from Senegal, Patrick Mboma from Cameroun, Ghanaian Anthony Baffoe and French national Lilian Thuram.
The event was also attended by government officials, members of the private sector and other sports personalities.
As he addressed participants, the president of FERWAFA, Olivier Nizeyimana Mugabo said that the anticipated VCWC 2024 will coincide with Rwanda’s 30th Liberation Anniversary.
He explained that Rwanda is eager to host the tournament given that it has a mega project for the renovation of Amahoro Stadium to be completed during VCWC 2024.
“Amahoro Stadium will be completed in March 2024. It will be opened by Veteran Clubs World Championship. From 1994 to 2024, Rwanda will be hosting the 30th Liberation Anniversary. These veteran footballers will help to invite Rwandan diaspora in Africa and beyond to join us,” Mugabo said.
During the tour, the veteran footballers will interact with different officials, investors and representatives from the Civil Society to increase awareness about the historical tournament.
In light of this; Veteran footballers will visit 11 cities including Johannesburg, Nairobi, Lagos and Abidjan in Africa; Brussels, Berlin, Paris and London in Europe as well as Washington DC, Ottawa in the United States and Singapore in Asia.
The Minister of Sports, Aurore Mimosa Munyangaju requested participants to return to Rwanda after touring the world and ensure that the tournament leaves a legacy for future generations.
Legendary football players also delivered a talk revolving around the role of sports in development.
Once completed, the Amahoro Stadium being upgraded to international standards, will have the capacity to accommodate 45,000 people.
He started his journey from humble beginnings, pouring his life savings into setting up his own company – the African Press Organization (APO) – in 2007. His goal was to provide international and African media with access to reliable news about the continent’s economy, business, and investment news.
It might have seemed like a gamble, but Nicolas defied the odds. He soon abandoned his career as a journalist for online Gabonese media ‘Gabonews’, and, over the last 15 years, APO Group (as the company is now known) has grown into the leading Pan-African communications consultancy and press release distribution service.
APO Group is changing the narrative about Africa, helping communicators relay compelling, uniquely African stories to audiences all over the world.
With close to 100 employees, and more than 300 clients, APO Group reported increased revenue of 88% in the first semester of 2022, versus the same period in 2021.
Some of APO Group’s prestigious clients include FIFA, Facebook, Nestlé, NBA, the Basketball Africa League (BAL), Canon, Coca-Cola, DHL, Marriott Group, Ecobank, Liquid Intelligent Technology, Siemens, Standard Chartered, Orange, Jack Ma Foundation, African Development Bank, World Health Organization, Islamic Development Bank, Rotary International, Kaspersky, Greenpeace, the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA), the governing body of the Olympic Movement in Africa, among others.
Nicolas is also a judge at the Africa’s Business Heroes (ABH), Jack Ma Foundation’s flagship philanthropic program spotlighting and celebrating Africa’s entrepreneurial talent and promoting entrepreneurship skills.
He was among six judges who recently came to Rwanda for the semi-finals held at Kigali Convention Center on 30th September 2022, during which a Rwandan, Francine Munyaneza, emerged among ten finalists to share Jack Ma’s US$1.5M Prize.
Her company, Munyax Eco Company targets solving Rwanda’s energy challenges in rural and urban areas by providing solar equipment made and tested in Africa.
During his week-long stay in Rwanda, IGIHE sat with Nicolas to talk about his entrepreneurial journey, the efforts needed to shape a positive narrative about Africa, APO Group’s partnership with the Catholic Church in Africa, and other topics of interest.
{{Excerpts: }}
{{APO Group has been in operation for the past 15 years. Briefly tell us what the journey has been like?}}
APO Group was created in 2007 as a press release distribution service.
Today, we have two business units: A press release distribution division and a Public Relations division. We are Pan-African in everything we do. We operate in each of the 54 markets of the continent – including Eritrea and Somaliland, where establishing relationships with media can be very challenging. There is not a single country on the continent where we have not delivered our services.
We provide services to more than 300 hundred clients, many of them multinational companies such as Canon, Ecobank and Liquid Intelligent Technology. We are also working with international institutions, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Sports Organizations, with organizations like FIFA, the Jack Ma Foundation, and the African Development Bank (AfDB) among our customers.
We are the Main Official Sponsor of Rugby Africa, the governing body of rugby in Africa, and the strategic partner of the Association of National Olympic Committee of Africa (ANOCA). We are also an Official Partner of Olympic de Marseille, and of Team Qhubeka, the only African professional cycling team.
Our work is to provide Public Relations, media relations, and digital marketing services to our clients all over Africa.
{{Where did you get your inspiration and how is APO Group contributing to job creation and Africa’s economic growth?}}
That’s an interesting question. Two days ago, here in Kigali, I was visiting someone who is very dear to me, without whom I wouldn’t have created APO and be what I am today.
The person is Donald Kaberuka. He was the President of African Development Bank in 2007 and 2008 when I started APO Group. I reminded him of what he told me in 2008 when the company was six months old. It is something that was completely instrumental to our success.
He told me that “the dissemination of information about the African economy can participate to the development of the continent”. In other words, making sure people in the USA, UK, China, Belgium, Brazil and Russia – everywhere – are able to receive information about the economy of the continent will drive potential international investment, and participate in the growth of Africa.
Africa needed to share its good economic news with the world. Once investors would receive that information, they will come forward to invest.
During the past fifteen years, I believe we have had an impact on employment in the African continent, maybe not directly, but through supporting our clients and multinational companies.
We have supported some of the biggest companies in the world as they expand across Africa. Through our partnerships with Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters, Lexis Nexis and Factiva – among many others – we make sure information about African economies reaches all the major stock exchanges across the world. That has undoubtedly driven investment in Africa.
By contributing heavily to the dissemination of information about the economy of the continent, we have definitely had an impact on investment and employment.
{{APO Group registered a growth of 88 per cent in revenue in the first half of 2022, compared to the first half of 2021. To what efforts do you attribute this success?}}
In the first quarter of this year, the company’s revenues grew by 70% compared to the first quarter of 2021. In the first semester of this year, the company’s revenues grew by 88% compared to the same period last year. By the end of the year, we expect the growth to hit three figures.
A lot of that growth can be attributed to multinational companies investing heavily in Africa, and specifically on communications.
As an example, I am a member of the Advisory Board of the Africa Hotel and Investment Forum (AHIF) which is the largest event for the hospitality industry in Africa.
Before and during COVID-19, I heard a lot of comments from people who were obviously concerned that the tourism and hospitality industry in Africa might go into decline. But we’ve actually seen the opposite result. APO Group works with Marriott, the leading hospitality group globally. We also have other clients like Radisson, Hilton and Accor. All of these organizations continue to work with us, and are maintaining or increasing their communication spending.
By looking at our growth, you can ascertain a lot about the dynamism of the continent and the appetite of multinational companies developing their presence in Africa.
Usually, people say that if a company is reducing investment, the first thing they cut is communications. If APO Group is growing, it means that there are many multinational companies investing in their PR and Communication. That’s good news for the continent.
{{What should be done for the continent’s communication industry to thrive and promote positive narrative about Africa?}}
Both the media and the Public Relations industry have an important role to play, but it is a long road ahead.
Africa is often portrayed in a negative light by the international media. They tend to play to the negative preconceptions of the western audience. Mostly, the news is of poverty, famine, conflict and corruption.
That is not an accurate depiction of what I see when I am travelling across Africa.
Public Relations Agencies like APO Group have an opportunity to carry positive news that can change the narrative about the continent. But then, the responsibility is passed on to the media.
I am very worried about the increasing expansion and influence of the international media in Africa. We are witnessing an increasing number of international media creating African subsidiaries, opening offices and so on, and perpetuating their own preconceived opinions and bias.
The so-called “international” media – I am referring to CNN, BBC, Aljazeera, TV 5 Monde, France 24, and so forth – are not truly “international” at all. Really, they are “national” media with “international” geographical coverage.
So here is the problem: If I go to my room at the Radisson here in Kigali, I can watch CNN, BBC, Aljazeera and more. If I go to Europe, what Pan-African equivalent media can I watch?
I do not want Africans to be condemned to simply listen to what the “international” media are saying about them.
{{APO Group recently signed a partnership with the Symposium of Episcopal of Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM). What does it this mean for African countries like Rwanda where a large number of the population is Catholic?}}
At the Vatican, in May this year, APO Group signed a partnership with the Catholic Church in Africa through their governing body, the Symposium of Episcopal of Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM).
APO Group is providing two main services: The first is media relations capacity building. As we speak, APO Group is planning online training for more than 150 delegates across all the Church’s episcopal conferences with sessions held in English, French and Portuguese. I recently met Cardinal Kambanda at the General Assembly of the Catholic Church in Accra, and we had a very productive meeting in Kigali a couple of days ago. Rwanda will be part of that training.
By doing that, we will increase both the quantity and the quality of the content produced by the Catholic Church in Africa. We will show the Church’s communication managers how to draft proper press releases, the importance of images and video, how they can use smart phones to produce content, and so on.
With the training in full flow, there will be a huge increase in the amount of Catholic Church content by the end of the first quarter next year.
The second part of the agreement is that APO Group will distribute all the content these communications professionals produce, including text, images, videos and soundbites from all echelons of the Church, from parishes, dioceses, episcopal conferences, regional episcopal conferences, and of course the governing body of the Catholic Church in Africa, the SECAM.
One of the things most Africans know but sometimes need to be reminded of, is the importance of the Catholic Church in Africa. 20% of the entire African population is Catholic, and, while the number of Catholics globally is decreasing slightly, in Africa it continues to rise.
The Catholic Church in Africa is deeply involved in development activities across the continent, managing countless schools and hospitals.
The Church has a huge impact on the African continent in terms of education, health and conflict mediation.
