South Africa's Eleni Giokos promoted to CNN International anchor and moving to Dubai in the UAE to help with Connect the World, will continue to do Connecting Africa and will play a central role in upcoming Marketplace Middle East.

by Thinus Ferreira

South Africa's CNN International (DStv 401) correspondent Eleni Giokos is getting promoted to anchor position on the international TV news channel and is moving to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where she will be working alongside Becky Anderson on Connect the World.

Although based in Dubai and taking on an ever-expanding role, Eleni Giokos will continue to to anchor her show, Connecting Africa, and she will continue to travel into Africa and across Africa from the UAE.

Eleni Giokos will also play a "central" role according to CNN in the new CNN Marketplace Middle East that will launch later in 2021 as a new programming strand on the channel.

Eleni Giokos joined CNN International in 2015 from Bloomberg TV Africa and has reported extensively on the ground across Africa from Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt and Zimbabwe, to Rwanda, Senegal, Ghana, Lesotho, South Africa and more.

She has travelled to the United States several times, reported from South Korea and Kazakhstan, and have sat in to anchor several CNN programme blocks from CNN's London, New York, and Atlanta hubs, most notably for Richard Quest on Quest Means Business.

Meara Erdozain, SVP of Programming at CNN International, says in a statement "Eleni is an outstanding anchor as well as a skillful and exceptionally versatile correspondent".

"This move will bring that talent and experience to a new region. Being based in Dubai, one of the world’s most connected cities, will also mean she can maintain her presence in Africa, and build on the success of her Connecting Africa show."

Eleni Giokos says "This is such an exciting time to be moving to the UAE. There are so many interesting business and cultural stories there, and with Dubai Expo on the horizon it is a really dynamic moment".

"I'm also incredibly passionate about Africa, and the beauty of this move is that I will be able to travel easily across the continent from my new home."

CNN International says that Johannesburg will remain a key hub for CNN and that the newsgathering team there is being led by the international correspondent David McKenzie who will continue to be based in the bureau there.