* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
I kept my fingers crossed waiting for that email from the Thomson Reuters Foundation confirming that it had accepted me to participate in the Finance and Governance – Advanced Reporting Workshop in Johannesburg.
It finally came through and for sure that was the best news I had received in a long time. I concluded this was the best opportunity for my career especially at this time when am looking at newsroom management as my next destination. I participated in the Financial and Economic Reporting training course in Uganda’s capital Kampala last September, which was the baseline for me to conclude that Reuters courses are so valuable. I would attend 100 if possible.
Only two ‘Es’ best describe this training: education and excitement. The tools that were used throughout the course were exciting but very educative, and unforgettable. The first lesson of the course was to interview our partners. We were set up in pairs and instructed to get out as much information from our partners as possible. The information would later be relayed out in a short presentation. My partner was Tokunbo Olajide, the participant from Lagos, Nigeria. Tokunbo is passionate about travelling but has a phobia for flying. Yes, I laughed because I wondered: “How does he reconcile the two?”
David White, whose sense of humour I so much like and Nicholas Kotch, with his sceptical approach, have absolutely opened up our minds to think about story ideas differently.
“The training has been very enlightening and puts a higher demand on one to think outside the box. It has challenged me to go out beyond reporting of the regular and take on bigger and deeper issues. The facilitators (a combination of hard and soft) make for a very good team experience,” Doris Okenwa from Nigeria says.
Tokunbo concurs with Doris: “It has been a great training. The emphasis has been on deep reporting and giving more perspective to a story.”
Who could imagine China as a bigger business story that we actually do report about it back home? If it has to be about China, then it has to be icing-sugar-coated for reasons maybe best known to us journalists, but it is absolutely time to start following up China relations with Africa more closely.
“The need to keep an eye on capital flight and Chinese economic activities is very beneficial,” Kofi Adu Domfeh, the participant from Ghana commented.
This has been the most amazing group. The training partners have been very resourceful and armed with so much knowledge about journalism and their countries. Sharing these economic experiences from four African countries - Kenya, Zambia, Ghana and Nigeria - makes me write and comment about economic issues, especially in Africa, from a more informed point of view.
The course particularly exceeded my expectations given the different people I have got to meet and the places I have been to in this one week. I remember earlier this year telling a work colleague that I would love to visit the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). His reply was vague: “Work hard.” Lady luck was on my side and a visit to JSE was part of the training.
We also visited the South African Revenue Service (SARS), where we met officials from SARS and the African Tax Administration Forum, who were very resourceful and quotable.
Only one out of the eight participants had used Johannesburg's new Gautrain rail system before. It was an exciting trip from Rosebank to Pretoria.
“The Gautrain was an amazing eye opening experience. We didn’t even think we were still on the continent,” Peter Wakaba, a participant from Nairobi, Kenya, said.
I do not regret having left the eight-month old back home because for sure his mother has got some of the best training in financial journalism in just a week.
