Addis Ababa — The Ethiopian News Agency (ENA), which inaugurated a modern media complex today, must further invest in human capital and content to compete in Africa, veteran Ethiopian media professionals said.
The state-of-the-art media complex with three cutting-edge television studios and four radio studios, advanced broadcasting equipment, and a vast digital archive are testaments to the agency's aspiration to expand services and be a competent and reliable media that voices the African narrative.
Among the prominent media professionals who attended the inauguration, Amare Aregawi, Ethiopian Reporter Newspaper Owner and General Manager and Ethiopian Media Council Executive Body Chairman, noted that true media power lies not just in hardware, but in the human capital and content that brings stories to life.
ENA's investment in the building, technology and the studios are amazing, the one-time Ethiopian News Agency Manager said.
According to him, the studio is fantastic for the radio and television and everything. But the news agency should also invest on human resource to improve content and become competent media in Ethiopia and Africa.
"I want to emphasis on one thing. When people watch or see the television of Ethiopian News Agency, read newspaper or whatever, it is the news that matters to them.They do not think of the building, they think of the content. So, as much as the news agency has invested on the building and the technology, it should invest on human resource also. That's what matters most."
The respected figure in the Ethiopian media landscape underscored the importance of skilled journalists who can produce high-quality and engaging content that resonates with audiences.
He believes that by nurturing its human resource and diversifying its content, ENA can become a true competitor and reliable source of information in Africa.
"It is not going to be the only one, but it will be the competitor media because the world needs so many media; and Africa too needs many medias."
Ethiopian Mass Media Professionals Association President, Tibebu Belete recalled on his part that ENA produced and dispatched content about African countries and was a voice of the oppressed during the colonial ordeals.
Since its inception 82 years ago, the Ethiopian News Agency has been a voice for African countries, particularly during the struggle for independence from colonialism.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
And with its new complex and vast archive, ENA is now poised for a renewed role in shaping the continent's narrative, he added.
However, Tibebu, also believes that to truly thrive, the news agency must continue investing in human resource and content creation alongside expanding its regional and global reach.
"ENA has experienced professionals, leadership, several branches in different parts of the regions. Moreover, it is expanding branches to neighboring countries Djibouti and Kenya while also expanding partnership with other domestic and foreign media."
For ENA to thrive further it should continue to build the capacity of its human resource and expand branches and partnerships with many countries in Africa and the world, the president stressed.
According to Tibebu, there is still neocolonialism when cultures and identities of Africans and others are being influenced using new ways of communication, including media, than weaponized invasion or colonialism.
"With its new state-of-the-art complex, along with long-accumulated historic archive resources, the news agency is renewed and the studios are among the biggest in the African continent; for instance the inaugurated complex is as big as the South African Corporation (SBC)."
Yet, Tibebu noted that the media complex needs human resource and content to thrive further.
To thrive further it should continue building the capacity of its human resource and add more from the market, in addition to expanding branches and partnerships with many countries in Africa and the world.
