Kigali, 15 March 2018

President Kagame today attended the 11th General Assembly of the African Union of Broadcasting (AUB) where he held and interactive session with representatives of public broadcasters from across the continent.

The week-long assembly gathers over 150 participants including five ministers of information and communication, around 30 Heads of public broadcasting media, observers, as well as civil society and regulatory bodies.

In an interactive session, President Kagame spoke about a broad range of topics from broadcast rights for African content, to AU reforms, to African migrants’ issues.

Speaking about the benefits of AU reforms, the President highlighted that it is time Africa starts paying its own bills.

“Some of these initiatives underway are not new. The 0.2% levy has been defended, argued about and is now very clear as one of the ways forward in being able to pay for our activities. If you don’t pay your bills you actually end up paying even more than you would, had you paid directly. The one who pays for you in the end owns you,” President Kagame said.

On broadcast rights for African football, President Kagame stressed that African leaders – public and private – need to confront the issue and devise ways for Africa to own its story and ways of transmitting it to Africans and beyond.

“It is an embarrassment that the rights of Africans playing football in Africa is managed by outsiders. There is nothing to be proud of in such a situation. For how long can we continue this way?” President Kagame asked.

The African Union of Broadcasting (AUB) is a professional body composed of national public broadcasters including both Radio and Television with a membership of 52 countries.

The organization groups state-owned public broadcasters in Africa and does mainly advocacy work but also creates a platform where these institutions discuss issues of mutual interests that cut across geographical boundaries.

The Summit taking place at the Kigali Convention Centre opened on the 12th March and will close on the 16th of March 2018.