AfricaCast 2011: BBC World News on African upheaval: 'We're ready and prepared and watching for the next big thing wherever that is.'

Unexpected news events in Northern Africa - from Tunisia to Egypt and Libya - did cut into the global news coverage budget of the BBC global news service this year and necessitated a reallocation of some resources, but the mighty Beep says it will definitely continue to cover news across Africa comprehensively and as it unfolds.

BBC Global News runs the BBC World News (DStv 400 / TopTV 400) TV channel, that this year brought viewers more news from Africa than ever before thanks to massive populist upheaval and political unrest in several African countries.

I asked Richard Porter, controller of English, BBC Global News, who is responsible for BBC World News, what impact the seismic African news shifts in several countries had this year on the BBC's news budget and resources - and if a news organisation can truly be prepared for that. Richard Porter was speaking at the AfricaCast 2011 TV summit that kicked off today in Cape Town as part of the 14th AfricaCom conference.

''Nobody could have predicted what would be happening in Africa this year,'' Richard Porter told me.

''You start by having a good infrastructure in place in terms of resources and people. The BBC had people on the ground in places like Libya and many of these places already. The thing that you have to be, is fast. You have to get, and get resources, to the right place very quickly.''

''At BBC News we are adept in shifting resources quickly away from certain places to where the story is unfolding. I've seen correspondents who I know are not in that part of the world, suddenly be there on the ground - people who are actually based in India, or China. It's always important however to supplement them with the core people who are based where the news is taking place,'' he said.

''I think what we'll do next year and into the future is more of that - place more people in those parts of the world, temporarily, so that we're ready and prepared and watching for the next big thing wherever that is. Of course it is important that you need to have a bit of space and safety in your budget to allow for that [unexpected news events] to happen.''