The Capital Market Authority (CMA) in partnership with the Media High Council (MHC) conducted two day training for 28 journalists from various print and electronic media houses across Rwanda on how to report on capital market.
The acting Executive Director of Capital Market Authority, Eric Bundugu stressed that “The training aims at equipping financial reporters with skills in covering the capital market industry. This will enable them to produce news stories which are balanced, impartial and accurate to their audience.”
He added that “We want to empower media practitioners with skills on covering the capital market industry. We believe that they need to understand the capital market phenomenon before they can disseminate information about it.”
The trainees started the training by touring the trading floor at the Rwanda Stock Exchange (RSE) to have an overview of capital market industry in Rwanda and how they operate.
Rwanda Stock Exchange’s Chief Executive Officer, Celestin Rwabukumba explained to journalists the role of investing in stocks and various products available on the market. He also emphasized on the importance of the media in sharing accurate and timely information.
“Always publish accurate and timely information on the stock market by using figures and facts to enable the Rwandan population to make financial decisions not based on speculations but facts”, he said.
In his remarks, Peacemaker Mbungiramihigo, the Executive Secretary of the Media High Council commends all journalists who attended the training for their role in educating the public on capital market industry in Rwanda. He ensures that they will do a follow up to know whether the training had a positive impact on their daily work.
“We need more stories on capital market, and we are ready to partner with you to increase your capacity in business reporting. We want you to specialize in one domain instead of being always trained in different domains,” He noted.
Trainees also visited the East Africa Exchange (EAX) located at Mayange Sector in Bugesera District; where they got more explanations on the commodities exchange and warehouse receipt system operations. They produced stories which have been published in their media houses respectively.
Trainees appreciated the training and recommend that journalists need a help to specialize on the business area.
“We do not have journalists specialized in business reporting, so, it could be better if you help us to specialize in business reporting.” Julius Bizimungu from the New Times said.
The aforementioned training closed by awarding the 28 reporters who attended the training, and the CMA in partnership with MHC assured further trainings to empower financial reporters in capital market reporting. The training was conducted on 17 – 18 May 2018 and it was the third one conducted.