Eleni Giokos of the eNCA (DStv 403) is off to Davos, Switzerland for live coverage of the upcoming World Economic Forum (WEF) with viewers who will also be seeing recorded interviews and analysis from 22 to 25 January on the 24-hour South African news channel.
It didn't take long for the sprightly business reporter which eNCA poached from CNBC Africa in the latter part of 2012, to bring and unlock value for her new channel bosses: after she's covered the WEF for the African business channel, that insight, expertise and contact list is now the eNCA's gain.
'Eleni Giokos has worked as a business reporter for several years now and she has a great understanding of how the South African and global economies work,'" the eNCA tells me.
"We believe that the World Economic Forum is the most important business-focused event on the international calendar. The future of the world economy is extremely important to South Africa as an export-dependent economy. More than that, South Africa's image overseas has suffered recently after Marikana, labour unrest in the mining and farming industries and political uncertainty ahead of Mangaung. eNCA will be trying to get a sense of international perceptions of South Africa and Africa."
Eleni Giokos will be packaging reports from Davos on a daily basis for the eNCA and the channel will also be crossing to her live for analysis alongside some of the world's top experts. The theme of the WEF this year is "Resilient Dynamism" and the eNCA will be looking at whether "Brand South Africa" shows resilience in the face of some extremely tough tests.
"We will also ask about South Africa's place in Africa. Is the country still viewed as the gateway to the continent or are we increasingly being passed over in the face of rivalry from the likes of Kenya and Nigeria," says the eNCA.
The challenges of Eleni Giokos going to Switzerland where some of the world's biggest news organisations are also annually decending on, all battling for space, place and interviews is accomodation in a small Swiss town which is the centre of the economic universe for one week, says the eNCA.
"Aside from that, a lot of pre-planning has gone into booking guests, shooting material to package, arranging interviews in Davos and interviewing economic roleplayers in South Africa. We also have a logistics department which books satellite space for the live crossings viewers will see on eNCA."
