Dakar, Senegal, 1 October 2026
The African Union of Broadcasting, AUB, and the African Centre of Meteorological Applications for Development, ACMAD, have officially signed a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at strengthening cooperation between Africa’s broadcasting community and the continent’s leading institution for weather and climate services.
The agreement was signed on Thursday, 1 October 2026, at the AUB Headquarters in Dakar, Senegal, following a high-level ceremony that brought together representatives of the two institutions and partners from the African media and climate information community.
The Director General of the AUB, Mr. Grégoire Ndjaka, underscored the critical role of African broadcasters in translating complex climate and weather information into messages that ordinary citizens can understand and use.
He stressed the importance of strengthening the capacity of broadcasters and journalists to report climate change, extreme weather, disaster risks and early warnings in ways that can support preparedness and protect lives and livelihoods.
Representative of West Africa Democracy Radio, WADR, Ms Deborah Amuwo highlighted the role of media platforms in connecting technical climate information with communities, particularly vulnerable populations that depend on radio and other accessible communication channels. She expressed the commitment of WADR, a sub-regional radio organization and member of the AUB, to realizing the goals of the MoU to ensure that every citizen in West Africa is served with timely, easily understood and actionable early warning messages to save lives.
Dr. Ousmane Ndiaye, Director General of ACMAD, who emphasized the importance of partnerships in ensuring that climate information moves beyond scientific institutions and reaches the people and sectors that need it most.
ACMAD serves as Africa’s continental weather and climate watch institution, providing climate monitoring, forecasts and early warnings, while also supporting capacity development and the application of meteorological information for sustainable development.
The MoU marks an important step towards closer collaboration between climate science and broadcasting, creating opportunities for joint initiatives in climate communication, early warning dissemination, media capacity development and public awareness.
With broadcasters reaching millions of people across the continent, the AUB and ACMAD partnership seeks to help bridge the gap between climate information and the communities that need it most.
