By JOHN SAKALA
Zambia’s Ambassador to Germany Anthony Mukwita, has lobbied the German-State-owned media the Deutsche Welle (DW), to cover Zambia’s tourism sector.
Mr Mukwita said Zambia is a good story with an attractive tourism and investment environment that he wishes to share with the rest of the world.
“But we are still contending with issues of poverty and other development challenges like everyone else because there is no perfect world but our story is largely good Zambia offered the best environment for DW’s expansion of its media coverage. The country has an excellent record of uninterrupted peace and political stability since her independence from Britain in 1964,” he said..
Mr Mukwita made the remarks when he called upon DW Director General Peter Limbourg at the media giant’s Berlin offices recently.
He told DW that its correspondents are free to visit Zambia and spend extended periods of time in the country in order to deepen their understanding of the country and consequently reflect it accurately on their giant platform instead of relying on second hand information that may be misleading.
In response, Mr Limbourg expressed gratitude at the invitation which the relevant departments of DW would consider.
And DW Head of Africa Programs Claus Stacker the media has a variety of shows with African themes that Zambia is welcome to participate in.
“In addition to these shows, said DW now has a youth magazine program called The 77 Percent that features young Africans and their stories. 77 is a reference to the fact that 77% of Africans are young people aged around 35.
“If you know of young people with such good stories, please do not hesitate to share with us, we are looking for something extra ordinary in young people”, said Mr. Stacker who has spent many years in Africa before returning to Germany.
Launched 65 years ago, DW broadcasts in 30 languages to a weekly global audience of 160 million people, with a third of the audience based on the African continent.
For the distribution of its content, DW relies on satellites, on about 5000 partner stations, on the Internet and mobile devices. DW is also ranked among the top ten media giants globally alongside institutions such BBC, VOA and CNN to mention but a few.
Others present in the inaugural high-level meeting aimed at fostering ‘good relations’ with the media giant included DW’s Managing Director Ms Gelder Moyer, Mr Claus Stacker (a veteran of African politics) and Mr. Benjamin Rietdorf, in charge of media and Public Affairs.
This is according to a media statement by First Secretary for Press and Public Relations at the Zambian Embassy in Germany Kellys Kaunda.
