Gamal Nkrumah examines what African Liberation Day means to Africans today, charts the development of the Egyptian Broadcasting Corporation's African Services and asks whether they can function as effectively in the digital age as in their heyday during the African national liberation era? In Africa the radio still reigns supreme. In the world's poorest continent, with the lowest television ownership rates, fewest computers per capita, and lowest literacy rates, radio journalists emerge as the chief agents of national and continental self- images and values. It is generally acknowledged that the mass media cultivates the national psyche, but what about continental concerns? Many listeners in Africa view Western media coverage as extremely biased. It is in this context that the Egyptian Broadcasting Corporation's African Services are regarded as an alternative source of information. Egyptian officials, meanwhile, have since the mid-1950s and early 1960s grasped the African Services' potential and importance as a medium to reach millions in the African continent. It speaks to its listeners directly in their own languages, it appeals to their sensibilities, and it is attuned to their cultures. But while in the past the African Services mission was sharply focused, today it covers social, economic and cultural concerns. Indeed, its whole ethos is undergoing something of a quiet change. Times have changed, and change can be painfully disconcerting. The voices calling for the scrapping of the overseas radio services, including the African services, have at times become deafeningly loud. In recent years, many influential columnists and policy-makers have even argued that the African Services no longer have a convincing raison d'être. While the Egyptian Broadcasting Corporation's African Services struggle on, a heated debate is raging about their future. Some feel that Egypt is now punching above its weight, that Egypt is after all a developing country that cannot afford to have a viable overseas radio services network. Others firmly believe that the venerable tradition started at the height of the anti-colonial struggle must not be tampered with. The search for a wider significance for the African Services in the digital age began with the content of the programmes -- especially in the absence of the expensive experimentation with relays on dedicated frequencies that rival services of wealthier countries pride themselves in. Also, there is a need to examine ways to bring in new voices into their coverage. Likewise, programmes that can challenge the viewers' curiosity and conscience need to be introduced. So what are the main tasks and current priorities of the Egyptian Broadcasting Corporation's African Services? "First, to shed some light on the main challenges facing African countries, and suggest the ideal methods for tackling and resolving these challenges", said Essameddin Sadeq Mahmoud, the Director General of the Egyptian Broadcasting Corporation's African Services. He told Al-Ahram Weekly that the African Services reflect not only the perspective of their audience but also try to present all sides of a news story. Speaking in measured tones about how the African Services aim to "articulate the Egyptian perspective, and to clarify Egypt's standpoint on key continental questions". He also spoke of the well documented and highly acclaimed contribution of the African Services to the African liberation struggle. It is curious to think that not so long ago, Cairo was the hub of revolutionary activity from around the continent. Freedom fighters representing various liberation movements from all over the continent made their way to Cairo, were provided with facilities to set up offices in the Egyptian capital and given a chance to air their views and put their anti-colonial message across on the African Services. Today, any vestiges of the revolutionary ardor of the swinging 1960s is at best seen as the bizarre heirloom of a very distant past. "We see ourselves playing a vital role in propagating African culture, emphasising the pivotal civilisational role played by the peoples of the African continent, nurturing national unity in African countries and stressing the various aspects of cooperation, coordination and solidarity between African countries. Mahmoud said that the new-look Radio Cairo African Services focused on the strengthening of regional economic groupings, especially those to which Egypt belongs; such as the 19- nation Community of Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Community of Sahel and Sahara (COMESSA). "We also aim to support the newly created African Union," he added. From the onset, the African Services have taken into account the diverse cultural make-up of the African continent. But there was always the conviction that the various peoples of the continent share a common heritage of colonial oppression, and must pool their resources for the common good. The global media environment has changed beyond recognition, creating many opportunities as well as challenges. Africa, especially, needs to harness this new media to propel its pace of development. "The African Services are also a means of highlighting Egypt's efforts in finding lasting solutions to many of Africa's problems," Mahmoud said. Interviews with public figures, academics and experts in a variety of fields provide forums where social, political and economic issues are raised and debated. Listeners enjoy these programmes and welcome the opportunity to contribute their opinions and views. They also enjoy listening to debates on events, pertaining to their daily lives, in their native tongue. Political content, such as news relays or the airing of political debates, currently account for between 20-25 per cent of broadcasting time. Social and economic issues such as sports, tourism, the environment and family matters account for some 15- 20 per cent. Cultural programmes account for another 15-20 per cent. Religious programming and the teaching of Arabic varies from region to region. While there is, for example, very little Arabic and religious content in programmes beamed to southern Africa, they account for a sizable percentage of programmes beamed in Hausa and other West African languages. The same goes for the Afar, Somali and Kiswahili Services in East Africa. Of the 50 African radio presenters, only two are women. Jennifer Ndunge Mututu from Kenya, who works for the Kiswahili Service, told the Weekly that she would like to see more women from the African continent working as radio journalists with the African Services. She did note, however, that there are a large number of Egyptian women presenters and journalists many of whom are familiar with the main African languages taught at Egyptian universities such as Hausa, Kiswahili, Amharic and Zulu. The estimated number of listeners varies considerably from region to region. The Hausa Service is by far the most important in terms of numbers of listeners. We receive thousands of letters from the Hausa heartlands in West Africa. The West Africa Arabic Language Service comes next in popularity, closely followed by the Amharic and Kiswahili Services. The African Services are sub-divided into two broad sections. The Eastern, Central and Southern African section broadcasts in Kiswahili; Somali; Amharic and Afar languages as well as Lingala; Shona; Ndebele and Zulu. It also includes Arabic, English and French Services. The West African Services comprise of the Bambara, or Mandingo; Fulani; Hausa; Wollof; and Yoruba language services as well as Arabic, English and French. Programming varies. Languages or services that are perceived to be of special importance are transmitted for longer hours than others. Both the West African Arabic Service and the Hausa Service broadcast for three hours a day. The English, French and Kiswahili services for two each, while the Amharic Service broadcasts for one and a half hours daily. Other African language services broadcast for shorter periods. All in all the Egyptian Broadcasting Corporations' African Services broadcast 24 hours a day. While music and entertainment do not feature prominently in the African Services, there are certain programmes such as Listener's Request and Friends' Club in the Kiswahili Service, for example, which air music, songs, and poetry in both the Kiswahili and Arabic. Arabic songs and music predominate, but listeners are also encouraged to show off their musical and poetic talents in Kiswahili. Another dimension of the African Services mission is to facilitate the spread of Arabic south of the Sahara. The Service aims at familiarising listeners with spoken Arabic as well as the more specialised teaching of grammar. "Teaching Arabic by radio is an important aspect of our work and we have specialised programmes for non-native speakers," Mahmoud said. He explained that, from the large number of letters received, many listeners welcome the opportunity to practice their Arabic. "We also have religious programmes that teach the pillars of Islam," he added. While management and staff stand firmly behind the African Services' coverage, many would like to see some technical changes. "A common complaint from listeners is that they cannot hear our broadcasts clearly," said Ismail Mfume of the Kiswahili Service. There are over 50 international broadcast services in Kiswahili beamed to the East African region, he said, adding that listeners opt for those broadcasts that are most clearly heard and that feature interesting programmes. Competition is stiff, and the major international stations such as the British Broadcasting Corporation and the Voice of America's Kiswahili services, for example, are hugely popular. They have huge resources at their disposal and have relay stations in East Africa to strengthen their presence in the region. Short wave listenership declined sharply after independence in certain parts of Africa. In other parts, the Egyptian Broadcasting Corporation's African Services have provided a refreshing alternative to Western broadcasts. This is particularly the case in the predominantly Muslim parts of the continent. No effort has been made so far to explore the possibilities of re-broadcasting partnerships. The Egyptian Broadcasting Corporation simply does not have the financial and technical resources at its disposal to set up such partnerships. Nevertheless, the African Services are struggling to keep afloat and appear to be weathering the storms of modernisation in a fast changing world. For financial and technical reasons, FM expansion across the African continent is not even considered an option. Likewise, the development of the Internet has been largely ignored. To date, none of the African language broadcasts enjoy audio services on a Web site, although some have e-mail addresses for correspondence. At a time when major broadcasting corporations around the world are switching to high-quality FM and Internet sites, the primary method of delivery for Egypt's African Services is still the somewhat outdated short wave. The most pressing concern is financial cuts. "Nobody is satisfied with the situation", explained Ezzeddin Mutwali, now retired, but who still takes a keen interest in the African Services' affairs. "They say that we are in the age of the TV, and the Internet, not the outdated radio," he added. Some African radio journalists who have worked for years in the African Services are now raising the question of redundancy settlements. Management, they say, has laid them off in a most despicable manner. There are no well-thought out early retirement schemes, they complain. Some veteran newscasters have in the past had satisfactory work contracts, but are now reduced to working on a free-lance basis -- which often means working longer hours for less pay. For years Mutwali was in charge of the Africa Service. Mutwali joined the Egyptian Broadcasting Corporation in 1956. Tragically, many of the African Services historic old files have been destroyed, Mutwali asserts. Some of these services such as the Kiswahili Service which was started in 1954 played a key role in the anti-colonial struggle. So effective were the broadcasts, that news presenters were household names, concurred Mohamed Fayek, the late President Gamal Abdel- Nasser's ambassador to Africa and currently head of the Cairo- based Arab Human Rights Organisation. "During one of his visits to Cairo after Kenya's independence from Britain in 1963, the late President Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya asked to meet Tanzanian radio journalist Ahmed Rashad immediately after he stepped off his plane. 'I had heard this man broadcast to us when I was imprisoned and when I was in hiding in remote rural areas in Kiswahili, and I must see that man who embodied our hopes and aspirations and convey my congratulations for the good work he did', Kenyatta told me," Fayek recalls. Throughout much of Africa, short wave remains the dominant delivery method, but even in the world's poorest and least developed continent, audience listening patterns are rapidly changing. "A great majority of the continent's population are sadly still illiterate, electricity supplies are erratic and the radio remains the most effective means of communication in much of Africa today," Mutwali explained. "People want to listen to their favourite radio programmes while taking a lunch break from work on their farms, or while doing the housework," he added. Mutwali has spoken out against the marginalisation of the African Services and calls for cutting the services down to size. African newscasters have long been accustomed to old faces such as Mutwali, who were extremely sympathetic to the cause of African liberation. Today, management go about their tasks in a rather perfunctory manner, they charge. Strapped for cash, the Africa Services have taken to laying off many of their employees. "We are concerned that the new management might try to use more freelance labour," concurred an African newscaster who preferred to remain anonymous. "They have not even explored the possibility of arranging re-broadcasting contracts with local African radio stations. This is a short-sighted, cost-cutting exercise," laments an African newscaster. The African Services of the Overseas Radio Services Network of the Egyptian Broadcasting Corporation started out essentially as the mouthpiece of the July Revolution and African liberation movements most of whom had offices in Cairo. When the late President Anwar Sadat met with Joshua Nkomo, then leader of the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU), at an Organisation of African Unity summit meeting in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa in 1978, Sadat asked Nkomo if he could send an experienced and professional Ndebele radio journalist for the Africa service of Radio Cairo. Mostafa Bala, who was a radio journalist based in Lusaka, was selected for the job. His mission entailed transmitting news of the liberation movement to the war front. Bala is one of those who worries about the turn of events. He is still holding on to his precarious job, having had a long and fulfilling career with the African Services. Bala still fondly remembers the day when he arrived in Egypt, 11 January 1979. He reported on the flurry of diplomatic activity that preceded Zimbabwe's independence in April 1980. He also covered the end of apartheid and the South African elections of 1994 which brought Nelson Mandela to power as the first indigenous black African president of post-apartheid South Africa. "Those were exciting times", he notes. Bala decided to stay on in Egypt, enrolling at the American University in Cairo, then marrying an Egyptian. Today as Bala heads for Studio 33, where he announces news and cultural programmes in Zulu and Ndebele, the portly and characteristically jovial veteran radio journalist lobbies hard to save his job, and the African Services. You can tell from the deep furrows in his forehead and his sad countenance, that his battle is as bitter as the old anti-colonial struggle. He is deeply concerned about the future. For inquiries, remarks or correspondence please contact the Egyptian Broadcasting Corporation, Overseas Radio Services Network's Africa Services E-mail address: [email protected] Fax: 00202 5759553
