Namibia and China have opened talks about establishing a new communication centre in Windhoek. This is after Namibia announced plans to strengthen the initiative through an agreement with China.
New Era Publication chief executive Christof Maletsky says Namibia and China are planning to establish the centre, which would facilitate greater cooperation and exchanges between media organisations in the two countries.
“This communication centre will facilitate some of the exchanges that we are talking about,” Maletsky says.
He says the centre would help Namibian newspapers and media houses collaborate with Chinese media organisations to expand the reach of their content across digital platforms.
Maletsky encourages media houses to embrace digitalisation if they want to reach larger audiences.
He cites potential cooperation with China Daily as an example, saying Namibian media could use the platform to distribute their content to a wider international audience.
“If we use platforms like China Daily to publish some of our content, we would reach more people, and it is distributed all over the world,” he says.
He says such cooperation could help Namibian media reach a bigger market.
Maletsky said this during the China-Africa Mainstream Media and Think Tank High-Level Dialogue held in Windhoek on Wednesday.
MISINFORMATION
Deputy minister of information and communication technology Wenzel Kavaka warns that rapid advances in digital technology, social media and artificial intelligence are transforming the media landscape while creating new challenges for the credibility and integrity of information.
He says misinformation and disinformation are increasingly difficult challenges that require cooperation across national borders.
Kavaka said this at the China-Africa Mainstream Media and Think Tank High-Level Dialogue in Windhoek on Wednesday, where he said African countries should participate more meaningfully in shaping the global conversation.
“No country can successfully navigate the rapidly changing global communication environment in isolation,” Kavaka said.
He called for stronger cooperation between Namibian media organisations, universities, research institutions and think tanks and their Chinese counterparts.
The China-Africa Mainstream Media and Think Tank High-Level Dialogue brought together government representatives, media practitioners, academics, students and think tanks to discuss media, communication, cultural exchange and cooperation between China and Africa.
Khomas Governor Sam Nujoma Junior also threw his support behind closer cooperation between Namibia and China’s Jiangxi Province, saying the region is looking forward to finalising a memorandum of understanding covering agriculture, education, youth development, trade and investment.
Nujoma also said this at the China-Africa Mainstream Media and Think Tank High-Level Dialogue.
