By Abdulrahman Aliagan, Abuja
CCTV Video News Agency (CCTV+) signed agreements with three more African media outlets to provide them news services under the framework of “Africa Link Union (ALU)” and the initiative has been joined by other 29 mainstream media organizations from 26 African countries.
A signing ceremony for Today Africa, a program of tailored world and China news packages produced by CCTV+, was held on the same day, adding five more broadcasters of the program.
The ceremony was held during the 4th “Africa Link Union (ALU)” Council Meeting in Casablanca, Morocco, co-hosted by CCTV+ and 2M TV, the first state-owned public TV station in Morocco. Media representatives and experts from 15 African and Chinese media organizations attended the meeting.
“It is the first time that the ALU Council Meeting has been held in Africa since its inception in 2016,” said Gao Wei, Managing Director and Editor-in-chief of CCTV+. “This year, our ALU members have made great efforts on developing news sharing, tailored trainings, and news program exchanges to expand the alliance,” Gao added. He also thanked 2M TV for providing support for the event.
As the co-organizer, Cheikh Salim, General Manager of 2M TV, placed expectations on ALU members to take full advantage of this opportunity and strive for achievements in improving the ALU cooperation mechanism and promoting common progress for alliance members.
Driven by the ALU, CCTV+ has become a significant source of news content for African media outlets in the past year. Last year, CCTV+ pushed more than 20,000 news stories on China and the world, with scripts in English, Arabic and French. And members have uploaded more than 2,000 pieces of African news material through the ALU mechanism.
CCTV+ is China’s first and leading video news agency. It offers news products and services to global professional media organizations, via its online Global Distribution System (www.cctvplus.com) and works in cooperation with world-leading distributors of professional news content.
ALU was initiated by CCTV+ and media organizations across Africa in June 2016, aiming to promote media cooperation and exchanges between China and Africa, and boost the global communication of African news content.