An assessment of the CNBC Africa branch, used for Dr. Byrum's Research Methods class at Bloomsburg University

1. |By: Kat Strysky| Prepared for Dr. Byrum’s PR Workshop class|

2. HISTORY OF CNBC AFRICA
• CNBC- Consumer News & Business
Channel
• Founded by Rakesh Wahi & Zafar Siddiqi
• Launched by the joint effort of CNBC &
Africa Business News on June 1st, 2007.
• HQ is in Johannesburg, South Africa
• Part of the global CNBC family
• Focuses on business, money, finance, &
economic news from the Sub Saharan area of
Africa.

3. FEATURES OF CNBC AFRICA
• Africa’s 1st & biggest business media brand.
• Acts as a resource to reach major decision makers, such as
CEO’s, lawmakers, & entrepreneurs.
• Appears on 4 different channels:
• DStv, StarTimes, Canal Plus, & Kwese TV.
• What sets CNBC Africa apart from mainstream media:
• Has a navigation tab dedicated to Africa’s President Cyril
Ramaphosa (& all news relating to him).
• Primarily focuses on issues within Africa.
• Separates news based on location (next slide).
• Has a YouTube channel with 42,596 subscribers (as of date).

4. NEWS SEPARATION/ FOCUS
• CNBC Africa separates news by region:
• North- Separated by the Sahara, isn’t included
in CNBC Africa reach.
• South- 11 countries
• East- 9 countries
• West- 18 countries
• No description of why Central Africa doesn’t
have a dedicated page- may be tied into the
others.
• Despite Africa being home to about 1,500 -
2,000 languages, CNBC Africa broadcasts in
English & displays all info in English on
their website.
NORTH
WEST
CENTRAL
SOUTH

5. CLARIFICATION ON SEPARATION
Reason for separation  It’s like comparing North American news to strictly Canadian or
American news.
• Not going to be able to cater to specific country issues.
• Coverage may be too broad & not be able to tackle important issues within political or social
context.
Examples of unique topics within current events:
• East Africa
• News surrounding presidents of Tanzania and Rwanda, money lending, & Kenya tackling child slavery
trafficking via charity efforts.
• South Africa
• Discoveries of gas in Africa, Zambia’s possible impeachment of their president, & the president of
Zimbabwe’s 1st meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
• West Africa
• Nigerian fashion brand emerging, possibility of Nigeria & Kenya cutting interest rates, Standard Charter
Bank launching 1st digital bank in Africa.

6. JOB OPPORTUNITIES (OR NOT?)
• No current job listings SPECIFICALLY for CNBC Africa
• Nothing on LinkedIn.
• Nothing on their website.
• List of jobs for CNBC in GENERAL: (60 results total)
• HR Coordinator (Singapore).
• Consumer & Health Editor, CNBC.com (Englewood Cliffs, NJ).
• Director, Creative Services- CNBC Prime Marketing (Englewood Cliffs, NJ).
• News Assistant (Singapore).
• Content Studio Intern- 6mo (Singapore)

7. SOURCES USED
• https://www.cnbcafrica.com/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CNBC_Africa
• http://www.livenewson.com/south-african/cnbc-africa.html
• https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsba91UGiQLFOb5DN3Z_AdQ
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_regions_of_Africa
• http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/african_languages.htm
• https://www.forbesafrica.com/entreprenuers/2011/10/01/forbes-africa-journey/
• https://sjobs.brassring.com/TGnewUI/Search/Home/HomeWithPreLoad?partnerid=2
5354&siteid=5108&PageType=searchResults&SearchType=linkquery&LinkID=495#
keyWordSearch=&locationSearch=