"Eco@Africa offers us a great opportunity to work with a relevant partner on a program that highlights the issues that affect us all," said DW's director general Peter Limbourg at the official launch event in Abuja. "We are convinced that this approach to presenting environmental issues will strike a chord with viewers – not only in Nigeria, but around the world."
Limbourg stressed that the German-African cooperation marked a "special moment in the history of Deutsche Welle."
"Channels TV is very pleased to be associated with Deutsche Welle in the production of Eco@Africa," said the chairman of Channels TV John Momoh. "As we strive to help strengthen Africa's commitment on sound environmental management, it is our hope that the program will assist in providing direction on the continent's intended actions to address environmental issues affecting its people and the economy."
Nigerian environment minister Amina Mohammed was full of praise for the coproduction: "This program could not have come at a better time. Nigeria is one of the most affected countries by climate change."
Channels TV has the largest audience of any private news station in Nigeria. Its flagship show 'News at Ten' is the most popular news program in the country. DW and Channels TV began their partnership in July 2015.
DW and Channels TV also used the event, which was broadcast in Nigerian at prime time, to pay tribute to ‘Eco Heroes’ who have helped bring environmental issues to the forefront in Nigeria – these include activists like Desmond Majekodunmi and Priscilla Achakpa; as well as Yahaya Ahmed, founder of the Development Association for Renewable Energies; and Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola, founder of WeCyclers.
Limbourg invited the winners to present their projects at this year's Global Media Forum taking place in Bonn in June.
Eco@Africa focuses on the preservation of biological diversity, the utilisation of national resources, energy sources of tomorrow and the mobility of the future. In addition to its reporting, the program also features a segment called #doingyourbit, where users provide examples of the things that they are doing to make a difference. Like how a simple stove is helping save lives by reducing pollution from cooking on open fires.
Eco@Africa is broadcast every Saturday (06:30, 14:30 and 20:30 UTC) and Monday (10:30 UTC) on DW and every Sunday (20:00 UTC) on Channels TV.
In December, Peter Limbourg and John Momoh agreed to deepen the cooperation between DW and Channels TV. They signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the global climate conference in Paris in the presence of Germany's environment minister Barbara Hendricks and her Nigerian counterpart, Amina Mohammed.
