The African Union Media Fellows have been equipped with the necessary skills to profile the unique features of the African continent in their daily reporting and content curating about the continent and challenged to help create a positive and compelling brand image for the continent to improve its global image and competitiveness.

This challenge was given by "Brand South-Africa, Ag Chief Executive Officer Sithembile Ntombela, when she took the AU Media Fellows through the concept of nation branding when the Media Fellows paid a working visit to the offices of Brand South Africa as part of activities for a two-week study trip to South Africa for the 29th November to 10th December.

According to The Brand SA CEO, Africans must accept and embrace the Continent's uniqueness. "We have to recognize the uniqueness of each and every country's offering and package it in a way that complements each other in grabbing the attention of the world so that Africa becomes better. The important thing about the concept of branding Africa is the alignment and our intentions for the development and positive impact of social and economic benefit of all of us in Africa."

She concluded her remark by commended the African Union for being instrumental in taking leadership and being a facilitator of concepts and programmes that promotes regional integration like the AU Media fellowship.

The AU Media Fellows were also taken on a tour of Constitutional Hill, which houses South Africa's highest constitutional court and is seen as a beacon of hope for South Africa's democracy.

Note to Editor

The AU Media Fellowship programme, is implemented by the African Union (AU) through the Information and Communication directorate, supported by the Germany Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ). Through the fellowship, the AU seeks to boost ownership of key policies and programs, and accelerate achievement of goals under its Agenda 2063, which center around delivering socio-economic and developmental changes on the continent.