Briefing the media on Friday after the African Presidential Roundtable, Kaunda said that among these initiatives should be developing alternative media to tell the African story.

The Roundtable was attended by seven former African presidents.

'Fair and balanced'
Kuanda suggested the development of a multimedia campaign and a strategy to engage major media outlets in order to encourage a more "fair and balanced" coverage of the continent.

"A plan should be devised to encourage more American non-governmental organisations and non-commercial media forums to create new paradigms for training Western and African journalists covering emerging African democracies.

"A strategy must be developed to encourage leading American schools of journalism and journalism organisations to develop specific tracks for covering emerging economies and developing democracies, particularly in Africa,” said Kaunda.

Progress review
The former presidents meet annually to review progress regarding the establishment of democracy and good governance on the continent.

During their two-day meeting at the University of the Witwatersrand, they also focused their discussions on Africans in the Diaspora.

Kaunda said US$750 billion was the annual aggregate income of African Americans and that economic potential needed to be harnessed for Africa’s development and to create economic opportunities worldwide.

He said besides the economy, tapping the talent in the diaspora could help reverse skills shortage in Africa.

"There are 200 000 African scientists in the United States, which is more than we have on the entire continent. There are 40 000 African PhDs living outside the continent. It is important to do more than lay out a welcome mat to encourage our brothers and sisters to come back home.

"We must develop strategies to recruit and encourage and demonstrate that we are serious about their return. The strategies for doing so start with African leaders leading the way in building a bridge to the diaspora.

"The time for talk and romanticising the necessity for coming together is past. The time is now for action," he said.

Source: BuaNews