There is the Africa Union to unite Africa: The AfricaPaper Tests the Ground for a Continental and Diaspora News Media
The AfricaPaper was officially registered in 2008 to report for the immigrant communities in Minnesota, across US, African diaspora, and continental Africa. Bring an in-depth understanding of Africa and its people to the world. The AfricaPaper (TAP) strives to follow major news and events around the world that are pertinent to immigrants in US, continental Africa, Africans and friends of Africa worldwide. TAP is to serve as a compass for these communities’ politics, arts, culture, businesses, education and services.
Africa is presumably the world’s last great emerging economy. With over a billion people across 54 nations, the continent is endowed with rich natural resources as evident in its oil and gas reserves in the gulf of Guinea, copper and cobalt in the Congo; uranium in Niger; oil in Nigeria, Algeria, Angola, Libya, Egypt and Sudan; diamond in Sierra Leone, Angola, Botswana, and South Africa, and Gold in South Africa, Ghana, Mali, and Tanzania. The continent is also rich in large arable land, forests and vast marine resources, but there is no common newspaper or media outlet to span across Africa as a continental voice.
Africa has experienced rapid economic growths as a result of domestic demands, foreign investment, strong commodity price, and relatively good governance. In spite of the progress, a significant number are still considered corrupt, and the majority of the people are among the poorest in the world. There are, however growing concerns to reform the democratic process. And a move for a democratic reform will require a reputable and impartial news media.
In Minnesota and US, the media in the immigrant communities today remains very poor. Most papers are small enterprises with limited staff and editorial space, only able to cover a sampling of straight news with little substance. There is no tradition of investigative reporting, and in-depth coverage is thus practically non-existent.
This is not for lack of issues. The African immigrant owned media in Minnesota, and US in general faces a long list of escalating issues and problems to cover. Stories such as political corruption from their home countries, and exploitation by multinational corporations, local mental health issues, security, human rights and frequent press freedom violations are sometimes given sparse details. Many African immigrants in Minnesota and different American towns and cities find it difficult to understand how authorities, community agencies or even school boards function.
To address these issues, these communities need a professional media organization and seasoned reporters to inform them and give insight to larger context of interrelated issues from home and in their local communities. Another major problem is how to use different media platforms to deliver news stories to those who cannot read. Therefore, the need for multimedia skills and technical assistance to deliver news and feature stories is paramount in the local and immigrant communities in Minnesota.
To be distributed throughout Minnesota, US, Africa, and worldwide, The AfricaPaper (TAP) aspires to be fair, accurate, balanced, and transparent in engaging debate on issues affecting immigrants, Africans, about human rights and democracy in Africa. TAP aspires to provide lucid information on any issue or event that is pertinent to Africa and its people at home and abroad. We believe that communities can work together when the have a media that encourages free and fair exchange of ideas, views, and debates on issues affecting them; The AfricaPaper provides the platform for such exchange.
Our term of reporters strongly believe that The AfricaPaper can contribute to understanding African immigrant communities in the global north and around the world. We bring communities together, and encourage vibrant exchange of ideas. The AfricaPaper serves as an umbrella media organization for other news outlets in the immigrant communities, Diasporas and continental Africa.
History:
The AfricaPaper was born against this backdrop, fulfilling a life-long dream of its founder, Issa A. Mansaray and co-founder Alieu B. Sheriff.
Mansaray and Sheriff met as teenagers while covering the civil war in their native Sierra Leone. Mansaray first discussed the idea of a continental newspaper when the military regime of Valentine Strasser banned their respective news organizations, For Di People and Quill, where they worked as cub reporters. The two beleaguered journalists, known for uncovering corruptions and human rights abuses ran into each other in 1996 while attending a Journalism conference in Graz, Austria.
Born in Freetown, Western Area of Sierra Leone, Mansaray grew up in the Southern Province. As a boy, he developed reading and storytelling as his hobbies. In Serabu, a small town in Bo District, he watched just a few meters away from where he stood as a man was set ablaze with gasoline during a political campaign in 1977.
Also in the ’70s, he witnessed during holidays in his village, as two youths were chained under the sun and beaten at intervals for a day for stealing a sheep. With this background, he became interested in documenting events and how to narrate them. Over the past years, he devoted his time to work towards his goals of becoming a journalist to contribute to social changes in Sierra Leone and the world.
The intellectual and social values that shape both journalists work emanate from their desire to address community issues in developing countries, and report stories that are pertinent to local immigrants. Over the years both have dedicated interest in developing and sustaining professional ethnic in The AfricaPaper. For a major part of their lives, addressing human rights, press freedom, and media education have shaped their interest in journalism.
In the late 1980’s and early 1990s, Mansaray’s father — Ahmed Sheku Mansaray, supplied newsprints to newspapers banned by then All People’s Congress (APC) government, and the military regimes in Sierra Leone respectively. His uncle, late Sallieu Mansaray, a book binder and printing press operator, printed most of the banned newspapers at night.
Sheriff, is no stranger to military regimes, targeted by the military junta in Sierra Leone, he fled to The Gambia. After few years of reporting in the capital Banjul, the military took over the country. Sheriff and other foreign correspondents were declared wanted. He fled the Gambia, with only a small hand luggage to New York, with the help of Human Right Watch.
Nearly a decade later, even as Mansaray wrestled with the grueling academic program Columbia Journalism School, he never gave up on his dream. He quickly reached out to Sheriff, also a graduate of the program through an alumni network. The two decided to meet at Mansaray’s Manhattan, NY apartment, where their newspaper idea was fully developed despite reports of decline in newspaper readership.
In 2007, Mansaray relocated to Minneapolis, MN, a city known for its vibrant African immigrant population. After a year of research and covering this community, Mansaray convinced Sheriff to establish The AfricaPaper’s headquarters in Minnesota, thus The AfricaPaper was registered in 2008. By many standards, this was the first continental news media of record outside of Africa. The organization went on to recruiting and training reporters throughout the continent. After a year in operations, the paper founded the African Institute for International Reporting (AIIR), the media education and training arm of The AfricaPaper with a 501(c) (3) status.
Africa Institute for International Reporting (AIIR) remains committed to training journalists in under-served communities in America and throughout continental Africa. The institution is designed as a teaching tool and a platform to interact with African and international journalists. It seeks to strengthen local media institutions and initiatives that can improve the livelihood of present and future The AfricaPaper works directly with reporters on the ground; span Africa to report stories for our readers in any part of the world and reaching them with direct emails, and address database. Not forgetting our followers on TAP’s different social media platforms, and The AfricaPaper Radio listeners.
The news organization participates in various community and international functions and activities, thus the creation of the Friends of The AfricaPaper in Minnesota, and the annual AfricaPaper BBQ, where African businesses and community leaders interact with media professionals in a relaxed atmosphere.
