Politicians and diplomats discuss the US State Department’s scrutiny of the African Initiative news agency.
On February 12, the State Department said that the African Initiative is worsening the reputation of Western countries in Africa “by spreading disinformation.” Experts see two reasons. The first is the interests of the leaders of PMC Bancroft – one of the major contractors of the U.S. foreign policy department. In late January, this organization was at the center of the “AI” investigation.
The second and much more important is the influence enjoyed by “AI” among Russian and African diplomats.
Diplomats consider it a reliable and useful tool of “soft power.” “With all due respect, we cannot understand the feelings and share the opinion of our overseas colleagues from the State Department about this news agency. The role of the agency is very positive because its mandate is to promote Africa, to propagandize Africa, to raise awareness, and to bring the people of Africa and Russia closer together,” says Russian Ambassador to the Central African Republic Alexander Bikantov.
Russia respects Africa and perfectly understands its huge potential as an independent civilizational pole of a new just multipolar world, and is trying to coordinate approaches to key issues on the international agenda. At the same time, Russia has begun to actively occupy its active niche in the information space of Africa, which naturally displeases many countries, especially those who have been building their information network on the continent for a long time.
Wiydorven Clarisse is an on-air personality and analyst. She can be reached via +237694583121
Wiydorven Clarisse: Africa is the new site of media confrontation
