By Zainab Jobarteh
Established in 1976, Emirates News Agency (WAM) is the official news agency of the United Arab Emirates and has been at the forefront of delivering news and stories in the UAE in particular, and the world in general.
WAM has forged partnerships with over 120 media organisations including news agencies, TV stations, media institutions and companies across all continents.
In an interview with Mohammed Jalal Alrayssi, Director General of WAM, he said that they are honoured and happy that they have built a relationship with their partners in Africa and that West Africa in particular is one of the sub-regions they are trying to build a strong relationship with.
He informed that WAM is the strategic partner of the prestigious Global Media Congress, an annual event which brings together media professionals and institutions worldwide in Abu Dhabi.
In their efforts to build the capacity of their partners in Africa, he said they are looking forward to having more people from different media outlets in Africa to participate in the upcoming Global Media Congress, which is slated to take place in November this year.
‘‘We are trying to build their capacities as much as we can because there will be a lot of workshops, networking and opportunities of working together,’’ he said.
To ensure that its news reaches people across the globe, the Director General said WAM speaks in 19 different languages and has offices in all the Emirates of the UAE and correspondents stationed around the world.
Mr. Alrayssi said they believe that they should reach a wider audience as well as give opportunities to people who are working with them to know more in the field ‘‘because media field is something that is changing all the time and there are a lot of new technologies that people in the media need to learn about’’.