BBC unveils Dar es Salaam bureau – new home of BBC Swahili morning show Amka na BBC
BBC World Service has launched its new bureau in Dar es Salaam - home of the BBC Swahili flagship morning news radio programme Amka na BBC and the team producing the website bbcswahili.com.
Published: 11 August 2014
The launch of our new bureau is a high point in the BBC's efforts to be closer to millions of its Kiswahili speakers in East Africa.
To commemorate the launch, two other BBC Swahili programmes – the evening radio show, Dira ya Dunia, and the TV programme, Dira ya Dunia, will be produced from Dar es Salaam on the day of the launch, Monday 11 August.
The opening of the new Dar es Salaam bureau is a result of the BBC World Service strategy to move the core of its Kiswahili-language radio and online production to East Africa. The new bureau is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities to deliver news across radio, television and digital mobile services.
The Monday to Friday, 30-minute breakfast show Amka na BBC, which sets the day’s news agenda for the BBC Swahili audiences, is now produced in Dar es Salaam by a team of 15 producers and presenters. The new bureau also houses a big part of the team producing the regional content for bbcswahili.com as well as the regional producers of the BBC’s TV programme, Focus on Africa.
BBC World Service Head of Journalism Nikki Clarke says: "The launch of our new bureau is a high point in the BBC's efforts to be closer to millions of its Kiswahili speakers in East Africa. Every week, nearly half of Tanzania's adult population - around 12.4 million people - come to the BBC for trusted news and information from Africa and around the world on radio, TV, online and mobile.”
The new bureau has two radio studios one of which can accommodate up to six people – a perfect setting for live discussions and debate on Amka na BBC.
BBC Swahili Editor Ali Saleh adds: “The new bureau provides excellent conditions for the BBC Swahili team in Tanzania to further reinforce the newsgathering and news reporting from the region. Amka na BBC will now be even better placed to deliver news and current affairs with a mix of East African and global stories, bringing more live interviews with newsmakers in the region – and more features and human-interest stories.”
BBC Swahili has been central to BBC World Service’s move to reinforce its presence in the African media market. With the opening of its Nairobi bureau in 1998, BBC World Service became the first international broadcaster to establish a news production bureau in Africa. In 2006 Amka na BBC was relocated from London to Nairobi and BBC World Service became the first international broadcaster to produce and present radio programmes from the continent. As part of the BBC Swahili radio and online production move to East Africa, the BBC Swahili flagship radio news programme, Dira ya Dunia, is produced in Nairobi.
PR
