Prime Minister wants professional management in ‘Noticias’ group – Mozambique

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Prime Minister wants professional management in ‘Noticias’ group – Mozambique

8:00 CAT | 14 Nov 2016

Notiias

Mozambican Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosario on Friday called on the newspaper company “Sociedade de Noticias” to adopt a flexible and professional model of management.

He visited the company’s printing press in the city of Matola, and the editorial offices in Maputo where the company’s three papers are written – the daily “Noticias”, the Sunday paper “Domingo” and the sports weekly “Desafio”.

According to the report on his visit in Saturday’s issue of “Noticias”, Rosario also recommended that the company draw up a business plan that will make its printing press a profitable concern. This, plus a more professional management style, the Prime Minister believed, were required so that the company could meet the current challenges of the media market.

The Prime Minister said that immediately the main shareholders in “Sociedade de Noticias” should meet with the Board of Directors to draw up a calendar for the changes that need to be made.

Although “Sociedade de Noticias” is technically a private company, its main shareholders are state bodies, notably the Bank of Mozambique and the Institute for the Management of State holdings (IGEPE).

At the end of the meeting with Rosario, the chairperson of IGEPE, Ana Isabel Senda, speaking in the name of all the shareholders, said they were concerned at the company’s cost structure, and believed it was necessary to rethink the management model.

Since the company has premises scattered across the country, Senda thought it necessary to make the most of them, and identify partners that can ensure that these premises, including the printing press, make a profit.

This fits into Rosario’s call for the company to draw up an investment plan that can be monitored and assessed.

“Noticias” is the oldest publication in the country, and in the initial post-independence period it was the only daily paper published in Maputo. But a decade ago, that monopoly was broken with the appearance of “O Pais”, a daily published by the private company SOICO, and run in tandem with SOICO’s television station, STV.

“Noticias” claims to be the largest circulation paper, but it has not published figures on its circulation for many years. Its claimed status as the largest circulation daily ensures that it receives the bulk of the available advertising, which has allowed it to keep its cover price at a remarkably cheap 15 meticais (about 20 US cents).

But the other two papers, “Domingo” and “Desafio”, carry very little advertising. They can only keep publishing because the company practices a policy of cross-subsidies – the profits made by “Noticias” allow the two loss making titles to remain in business. With the spiralling costs faced by all newspapers, this may soon be unsustainable.

Source: AIM