Idriss Linge and Brice Mbodiam, both journalists of Agence Ecofin (Ecofin Agency) are laureates of the third and fourth promotions of the Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa (BMIA). Last July 10, the two pressmen received in Lagos, Nigeria, where they took a 6-month course offered by experts of Bloomberg and the Lagos Business School, which partnered the initiative.

The Bloomberg foundation welcomed the participation of the two journalists, only Francophones, present at the continental initiative. “At Bloomberg, this (Francophones’ participation, editor’s note) is a major challenge and we feel nothing but pride seeing how the Ecofin Agency invested in the training of its staff. Their participation to the initiative gives a particular impact to what we do. We hope these two representatives of the French-speaking Africa will share what they have learnt here,” said Aguil Deng who steer the initiative in South Africa.

“It is a personal pride and for Ecofin Agency as well which understood how important it was to invest in this training. The quality of the training personnel and of the content of the course itself were highly beneficial for me and I gladly share all the knowledge I have acquired with my colleagues,” said Idriss Linge (right), laureate of the third promotion of BMIA in charge of the Finance and listed firms newsfeed at Ecofin Agency.

As for M. Mbodiam (on the left), laureate of the fourth promotion and chief editor of news website “Investir au Cameroon” or “Business in Cameroon” which focuses on investment in Cameroon, he said the training completely changed the way he considered economic policies. “Before taking part to the programme, I used to plainly relay economic policies to my readers. Now, I can clearly see how important information related to strategies for budget, tax and structural management are and how I can use them to better inform readers on how things are progressing in the system,” he declared.

About the Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa

The Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa was launched in 2014 by New York’s former mayor and founder of the world’s n°1 finance media, Michael Bloomberg. Its trainings took place in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa, building capacities of many journalists across the continent. The initiative which initially cost $10 million recorded the contribution of Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Ford Foundation and local universities in each country it was carried out.

About Agence Ecofin

Agence Ecofin was founded in 2010 in Geneva to respond to a growing need for sector-focused information in African economies. The agency’s website was launched in June 2011 with newsfeeds covering key economic sectors across the continent, knowingly: Public Management, Finance, Agriculture and Agrofood, Electricity, Oil and Gas, Telecom, Communication, Media, Mining, etc. With more than 48,000 readers subscribed to its daily newsletters, the media’s editorial staff is mainly composed of African journalists, most of whom are based in Cotonou (Benin) and Yaoundé (Cameroon). www.agenceecofin.com