The ordinary session of the General Assembly of Shareholders of the African Press Agency (APA) met on Friday 6 March 2009 at 11 am, at the APA headquarters in Almadies in Dakar, to discuss the year ended 31 December 2008.

The Shareholders, who are all African Information and Communication professionals, either in active service or not, deliberated on the following agenda items: • Reading of the report by the Board of Directors on the management of the Company and the Annual Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2008; • Reading of the report by the External Auditor on the mission of audit, control and on regulated agreements; • Approval of the Annual Accounts for 2008 and Quietus to the Board of Directors;

The General Assembly took note of the Report of the Commissioner of Accounts on the year 2008 and the mission of audit and control. The report concluded that “... ... .. the annual accounts of the African Press Agency are regular and sincere, and give a true picture of the results of operations for the year and the company’s financial position and assets at the end of this year". Therefore, the Assembly approved the Accounts, Balance Sheet and all reports submitted by the Managing Director Mr Sidy GAYE. The General Assembly also gave a Quietus to the management of the Board of Directors for its fiscal year 2008, and renewed its confidence on all the Directors.

The General Assembly further took the opportunity to congratulate in particular the Director General and all his team on “the work which they did with professionalism during the first three years” and which eventually puts APA at the front row of news agencies in Africa.

The Assembly has based its assessment on the “impressive achievements at the professional level” to quote the shareholders as saying. In fact, APA has become in only 3 years of existence, a major, competitive agency that is present everywhere during all the significant events on the continent. It is one of the most dynamic and most comprehensive if not the safest agencies in Africa. The agency works 24/24 and 7/7 and its products are widely used in at least 41 African countries and by 320 news outfits (print, electronic and audiovisual).

The Shareholders and Directors also hailed the audience statistics which APA portal experienced in late February 2009 during the meeting of the General Assembly of the Board of Directors, with a peak of 18,000 physical visitors per day, and the 140, 000 websites open to traffic with no less than 11 million pages viewed this month.

The Assembly also welcomed “the transparency in the management of the Agency", and therefore renewed its confidence and support to the Managing Director, while urging him “to further consolidate these gains" and “proceed with the performance goals included in the company’s roadmap.”

The Managing Director was also urged on the one hand to “maintain the austerity measures taken" and on the other hand, “to intensify the commercial activities” in order to recoup the investments made and “finally leveraging the already-impressive editorial performances achieved with great generosity and imagination.”

The meeting ended at the exhaustion of all the agenda items.

Issued in Dakar on 6 March, 2009.