EU Ambassador pays familiarisation visit to GNA

Mr Albert Kofi Owusu, the General Manager of the Ghana News Agency (GNA), has urged the European Union to provide technical assistance to aid the Agency’s digitisation and capacity building agenda.

That, he said, would enable the Agency to satisfy its subscribers with diversified news content to serve their multimedia platforms.

Mr Owusu said this when Mr IrchadRamiandrasoaRazaaly, the European Union (EU) Ambassador to Ghana, paid a familiarisation visit to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Tuesday.

He said the Agency was revamping its newsgathering operations, which include recruitment, training of reporters and editors in the production of digital news content.

The Agency also had to market Ghana’s peace dividend, which had attracted investments, such as Twitter setting up its regional office in Ghana, and major vehicle manufacturers, including Volkswagen and Toyota, establishing their assembly plants in the country, Mr Owusu said.

“GNA is poised to be the source of news on Ghana’s investment and industrialisation drive, economic and tourism potentials through story exchanges with international partners, which include Deutsch Press Agentur of Germany (DPA), South Korea News Agency, Presse Trust of India, and Agence France Press (AFP),” he said.

It was important for Africa to tell its own stories – of both the challenges and the successes, he emphasised.

Mr Owusu said that called for training and retraining of reporters to be skillful in their reportage and be able to specialise in specific areas of interest to produce factual, accurate and impactful stories.

He, therefore called on the European Union to support this drive by providing technical support to the Agency to meet the current trends and deliver quality information to the people.

“…. Democracy cannot thrive without good flow of information to inform to the people and from the people to inform policy, therefore, we are seeking assistance from you to build the capacity of our staff,” he said.

Ambassador Razaaly, on his part, said being a journalist, he was enthused by the history of the GNA, which was established by Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first President, in 1957 to tell the African story and ensure national unity and cohesion.

He commended the Agency for the marvellous work done so far, especially, in promoting Ghana’s image across the continent and the world as a whole and helping to build a strong democratic system.

He hailed the partnership between the EU and African countries over the years and said he would work closely with the Agency to address issues of common interest including plastic waste management and climate change.

Ambassador Razaaly took over from Ms Diana Acconcia the former EU Ambassador, in September, this year, at the end of her tenure.

He was a former head of West Africa in the European Union and his first overseas assignment was in South Africa, after which he worked in Brussels, before eventually joining the European Union again with a professional emphasis on Africa.
His areas of focus include promoting regional peace, security, and democracy; green growth and smart cities.

Present at the meeting were Mrs Beatrice Asamani Savage, Director of Editorial, Madam Agnes Boye-Doe, a Chief Editor of the GNA, and two officials of the EU Delegation Ghana Office, who accompanied the Ambassador. -GNA