The magazine Jeune Afrique, driven by what we see as a longstanding vendetta against the Presidency of the Republic of Cameroon—stemming from the refusal of a contractual partnership for more than a decade—is now taking revenge through a campaign aimed at discrediting AFRICA24, Africa’s leading media network.
We fully understand that the success of the AFRICA24 Group—publisher of four HD television channels, reaching 120 million households, built on resilient leadership (celebrating 20 years in 2029) and unwavering African financial independence—may unsettle a declining competitor and those behind it. However, this cannot justify abandoning the standards of professionalism that govern our noble profession by publishing an anonymous, inflammatory article without seeking the AFRICA24 Group’s leadership for comment or providing an opportunity for a balanced response. Indeed, through a so-called article entitled « Why AFRICA24, Cameroon’s ‘Financial Sinkhole,’ Is Threatened with Disappearance, » riddled with falsehoods, distortions, and pure fabrications as implausible as they are absurd, a publication that is in clear ethical decline has chosen to specialize in digital smear tactics by publishing unsigned defamatory content.
Faced with the magnitude of this misconduct, Jeune Afrique’s two senior executives contacted the AFRICA24 Group, attempting in writing to distance themselves from their own editorial staff. They even questioned, in their own words, the competence of the anonymous journalists responsible. One of the executives wrote: « I just vented my anger at the newsroom. This article is utterly inadequate. I am sorry. » What an extraordinary admission—and what a telling symbol of this media group’s systematic decline and increasingly caricatural editorial agenda.
They committed to: Correcting the online article;
Publishing AFRICA24 Group’s right of reply;
Issuing an official apology to our media organization. Failure to honor these three commitments will once again place them before the mirror of their own dishonor. For its part, the AFRICA24 Group will respond in accordance with the values and professional ethics that appear to have deserted the entire cohort of anonymous, hired journalists behind this discreditable editorial team by:
1. Publishing the full financial figures and supporting evidence demonstrating the grotesque fabrications disseminated by this media outlet about AFRICA24;
2. Referring the matter to the competent judicial authorities, in accordance with applicable legal provisions, so that the courts may expose the crudeness of these allegations against the factual truth.
