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Theme: Digital Terrestrial Broadcasting: The Imperatives of Financing Quality Content.
Africast is the Afro-centric biennial conference of Africa Broadcasters, which the National Broadcasting Commission has successfully organised since 1996. The eleventh edition is scheduled for October 18 – 20, 2016.
Africast has since become the destination broadcast event on the African continent for broadcasters, broadcast regulators, communicators, filmmakers, broadcast content producers, equipment manufacturers and vendors, policy makers and other stakeholders from all over Africa and the rest of the world.
Africast 2016 is coming at a crucial time for the broadcasting industry in Nigeria as we march towards the final switch over from analogue to digital terrestrial television broadcasting date of June 17, 2017. The conference would provide a unique opportunity for a synthesis of contributions and ideas of experts from within and outside Nigeria to drive policy implementation and capacity building while charting the best way forward for Nigeria and Africa in the digital era.
Africast 2016 will also afford the numerous participants coming to Nigeria for the first time, a chance to positively experience our country first hand in order to change any negative perceptions that have inhibited the nation’s international acceptance. Africast is another effort at correcting the imbalance in world information flow, being a platform of interaction between information practitioners from across the globe where Africa’s point of view is given full expression.
Africast Vision on Content
With the target date of June 17, 2017 of Digitisation of terrestrial television broadcasting in Nigeria, content will play a crucial driving role in the success of a digital broadcasting environment as indicated by the theme: Digital Terrestrial Broadcasting: The Imperatives of Financing Quality Content.
Africast intends to leverage on the commanding position of Nigeria in the area of content production, to become the content hub for Africa, where producers and users of content will come together for mutual benefit and development, and thus become another powerful catalyst for the growth and development of the African content, making it more desirable and accessible to the rest of the world.
The last edition of Africast in 2014 held in Abuja from October 21-23, 2014. An array of some of the most astute and sought after speakers in the industry, delivered very insightful and thought-provoking papers around the theme “Digital Broadcast Content: Production, Sourcing & Delivery.” Some of the major exhibitors included MultiChoice Nigeria, C2S Nigeria, Ecalpemos Technologies among others.
Leveraging on the past successes of Africast, we are planning a bigger and better Africast 2016, which will take place in Abuja, come October 18-20, 2016. It promises to be a must-attend event as broadcasting industry leaders from across the globe will be converging in Abuja to cross-pollinate ideas and explore the opportunities for the success of digitisation.
The positive response and feedback from all our past editions of Africast has inspired us to make Africast 2016 bigger and much more successful. With Africa trailing the rest of the world in the digitisation process, there needs to be acceleration in the process for Africa to attain digital singularity with other advanced countries. It is against this backdrop that “Digital Terrestrial Broadcasting: The Imperatives of Financing Quality Content” has been chosen as the theme for Africast 2016. It is our expectation that deliberations at the conference will proffer ways and solutions that would enable Africa make significant progress to meet the ITU deadline of June 17, 2017.
Africast has several components, which include:
• The conference – a platform for the digestion of practical, well-researched academic papers dealing with relevant issues in the broadcast industry; Professionals and Policy makers also have platforms to discuss crucial issues of media development, National development and the interplay between them in the syndicate and networking groups.
• The Exhibition/Content market – a broadcast equipment and content exhibition/mini-market bringing together some of the latest hardware/software and quality content available globally.
• The Master Class – One of the major highlights of the event is the collaboration with globally acclaimed experts in broadcast technology and content production for a practical training platform on the latest trends in the industry.
The main activities of the event will include plenary sessions, syndicate discussions, master classes, exhibition, content market and gala.
Exhibitors are being expected from the USA, UK, SWEDEN, ITALY, SINGAPORE, CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, as well as around AFRICA among other nations.
Africast 2016 is scheduled to take place at the Ladi Kwali Hall, Abuja Sheraton Hotel & Towers, from October 18-20, 2016.
Let me personally invite you to take advantage of this special opportunity to participate in this event as we work towards giving Africa a pride of place in the global broadcasting market.
Is’haq Modibo Kawu
Director General
