BUJUMBURA March 7th (ABP) – Economic information presents itself as a useful and public good in the development of a country, we learned on Tuesday March 1, 2022 in Bujumbura, from the consultant Désiré Nimubona, in a presentation he made on the role of the media in the economic development of Burundi, during the launch of the activities of the Network of Economic Journalists of Burundi (REJEBU).
During his presentation, Mr. Nimubona clarified that journalism is presented as a social science and that economic journalism is rather a job that requires much more precision, including the figure. According to him, an economic journalist must know the economic situation of his country, his province, or any other entity that he must follow overnight.
Mr. Nimubona did not forget to mention that in Burundi, it is still very early to say that such a journalist deals with economic issues. The cause being the lack of certain skills. According to this consultant, in Burundi, it is difficult for some journalists to deal with economic issues, to find clear terms to describe facts on the ground, to carry out in-depth investigations in private or state-owned companies.
He underlined that the causes in general are the refusal of the companies to give information or to cooperate with the journalists or quite simply the lack of knowledge in what is basic journalistic techniques and economic at the same time. Despite this, he pointed out that information is a public good. Its use is rather beneficial for the country, during foreign investment plans, for foreign direct investment or other form of investment.
In Burundi, to have subjects or economic information, journalists must cover inflation, that is to say, the monthly publication made by ISTEEBU and which allows consumers of information to know the situation of the prices of basic necessities including food, alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages. We can also keep an eye on the central bank as an economic journalist, explaining that investors like to know the position of the local currency in relation to the foreign currency, the situation of exports, imports, exemptions, the course exchange rates, monetary policy and financial inclusion.
He added that it is necessary to cover subjects related to banks, micro-finance institutions, electronic transactions, ministries including that of Finance, Budget and Development Cooperation, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Mines, Trade, ICT and others. Investments recorded in the country in a given period should also be treated as economic information.
Mr. Nimubona mentioned some challenges that block access to economic information. He cited the lack of openness or access to certain information, lack of stock market explaining that there is no stock market in Burundi, which limits access to the stock market terminal for journalists. He added the lack of adequate training for journalists, lack of confidence on the part of resource persons, the clichés attached to journalists in general and to economic journalists in particular and certain institutions which want less to be said about their activities.
The consultant made some recommendations. To the journalists, he invited them to go into the details of the economic information before its publication, to give precise information accompanied by figures, to train each time on various economic fields, to read the reports of the major financial institutions including the Bank (BM), the African Development Bank (ADB), the Bank of the Republic of Burundi (BRB) and other institutions.
To the government and other sources of information, he recommended that they open the doors to the media seeking precise information, apply transparency of operations, be available whenever they are needed, organize meetings with the press and understand the role of the press in the development of a country.