Sputnik Expands Cooperation With African Media - 07.10.2022, Sputnik International

The parties agreed to increase cooperation both in the field of content exchange and with respect to joint projects. The document was signed by Vasily Pushkov, Director of International Cooperation at Sputnik, and Johannes Wondirad, Director of Public Relations and Strategic Partnerships at ENA.

Following the signing ceremony, Vasily Pushkov commented: “Ethiopia is an example of a country where desire to cooperate with Russia is not just words but actions. I’m glad that our partnership with ENA reached a new level with the signing of this MoU. We see great prospects for cooperation between Ethiopia and Russia in the media sphere, and we are sure that there’ll be even more common initiatives in the future."

ENA CEO Seife Deribe Ebdale said: "This MoU is a good opportunity to exchange news and news-related issues with Sputnik News Agency and to communicate with Russian people. Russia and Ethiopia have good relations in any bilateral issues and they use this cooperation for the benefit of the two countries. So I hope this MoU will soon change into a Memorandum of Action. We have many issues to cooperate on, especially cultural issues and social issues."

Director of Public Relations and Strategic Partnership Yohannes Wondirad added: "Our countries have had a good relationship since a long time ago. We have signed this MoU to establish this good relationship and further development at a very high level. And this will help these two news agencies in the exchange of news materials. Sputnik can reach an audience in 30 languages and this Sputnik scope will help ENA to disseminate African issues to Russia and at the International level."

On the evening of the same day, ENA journalists attended a workshop by Vasily Pushkov, "Media Wars and Fake News: How to Fight Disinformation". The event was held with the assistance of the Russian Embassy in Ethiopia at the Russian Center for Science and Culture in Addis Ababa. Among the listeners were journalists from different Ethiopian media outlets, representatives of specialized organizations, and others.