Top CNBC chief to address media forum

The new channel, CNBC Africa, will launch programming in the first half of next year and will be available free-to-air across Africa. It will focus on Africa's business markets and provide global business news from an African perspective.

"The new CNBC Africa channel is an ideal first step in modelling African and world business stories from an African angle," says IMF organiser Fergal Parkinson. "Local communicators and business leaders will get the opportunity to meet and network with Mr Siddiqi."

The Forum is bringing together some of the world's top editors and journalists, including people from organisations such as BBC, CNN, the Wall Street Journal, al-Jazeera and others, who will also address the meeting and network with participants. They will meet with local communicators and business leaders to develop an effective media strategy for the South Africa.

The IMF meeting will discuss how the media can be used to tell the story of developments in the country. "For the first time we are bringing together senior editors from the world's most important media with South Africa's leading decision-makers in business, government and the communications industry. We will discuss the importance of South Africa compared with that of other advancing world economies and how the media can be used to tell the story," explain Parkinson.

The Forum will be held at the Sandton Convention Centre, 20 - 21 September 2006. Prospective participants can get more details and register online at www.internationalmediaforum.com.