For half a century, DW has been broadcasting reliable news and information in Kiswahili to listeners in Eastern Africa and the Great Lakes region. DW celebrated this anniversary today with an event in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, by bringing opinion leaders together for a discussion on “Knowledge and Awareness through Media”. Keynotes were held by the German Ambassador, Klaus-Peter Brandes and Andrea Schmidt, head of DW’s Kiswahili Service.

“The majority of our listeners live here in Tanzania so it was an obvious choice for our celebration,” said Andrea Schmidt. “For the last 50 years, DW has been committed to providing balanced news and reliable information, offering people in East Africa insights and detailed analysis on the issues that matter most.”

The panel discussion at the event was organized with the help of GIZ in Dar es Salaam and moderated by DW’s Mohammed Khelef. Participants included distinguished Tanzanian media professionals likeAssah Andrew Mwambene (Director of Tanzania Information Services / Maelezo), Mohamed Abdulrahman (DW), Jenerali Ulimwengu (journalist), Valerie Msoka (Director of TAMWA) and Maggid Mjengwa (social media expert).

DW’s Kiswahili Service broadcasts daily three hours to East Africa and the Great Lakes region. By working with partner stations throughout the region, DW is able to provide listeners via FM balanced coverage of what is going on in the world in general and in Africa in particular. To provide this international perspective, a team of journalists from five African countries works together with a network of correspondents. Kiswahili programming is one of the most popular that DW offers. DW has integrated award-winning educational content with Learning by Ear and a huge variety of features covering health, human rights, environment, women and development, youth and lifestyle and culture.