Boost for radio in Africa as new service for radio stations launches

“Radios are affordable and portable, and millions of Africans rely on them to stay up-to-date with what is happening in their communities, countries and around the world,” APO Group says.

Quoting data from the African Union, the company notes that more than a third of African adults cannot read or write, so radio is an essential form of mass communication across the continent. And while the rest of the world takes online news for granted, in Africa only 43% of people have access to the internet.

A crucial part of the African media landscape

Against this backdrop, the only way to reach huge numbers of African people is via their radios.   

“Radio forms an absolutely crucial part of the African mass-media landscape,” said APO Group Founder and Chairman, Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard. “Radio News Release provides radio stations with a quality feed of Africa-related soundbites and audio files which will help them deliver key stories into the heart of African communities.”

For radio stations, soundbites distributed by the company are available free of charge. Quotes from prominent business figures, updates from African governments, and vital news from public institutions are carried by Radio News Release in broadcast quality so they can be incorporated into news broadcasts quickly and easily.

“Radio stations represent a hugely significant and largely untapped cross-section of the African media landscape,” says Grégoire Ndjaka, CEO of the African Union of Broadcasting (AUB).

“By offering a rich variety of audio news content for free, APO Group is delivering content to radio broadcasters in the exact format they need. No-one has ever offered a service like this to African radio stations before, and it is enabling them to broadcast some of the best sports, business and technology stories to millions of African people for the very first time.”