New Sudanese radio station “Voice of Africa” has opened Khartoum – Abedalgoum Ashmeag A new Sudanese radio station, “Voice of Africa,” has opened for broadcasting in a range of African languages, a move the country’s Information Minister has celebrated as Sudan’s “interest in communicating with its African surroundings.” Voice of Africa, now broadcasting in African languages and dialects including Hausa, Swahili, Tigrinya and Amharic, as well as in English and French, is targeting a predominantly African audience. Sudanese Minister of Information Dr Ahmed Bilal Osman said: “The launch of Voice of Africa ​​reflects this country’s interest in communicating with its African surroundings, especially since Sudan has contributed so much to the continent during periods of national liberation.” The new station represents one of the country’s “tools” to address people across Africa, Osman added. Former Media Director at the Organisation of African Unity, Dr Ibrahim Dakash, meanwhile claimed: “The radio has a strategic role. Most Africans think that the secession of South Sudan created a geographic separation between Sudan and his African surroundings." “Sudan is qualified, because of the country’s Arab-African identity, to play an active and vital role in its African surroundings,” Dakash added. Journalist Hadi Ahmed Awad claimed the station’s launch represented Sudan’s desire to “strengthen relationships” with other African countries. “Voice of Africa must achieve its founding principles, most notably showing what is really happening in Sudan, to enlighten African public opinion about relations with its southern neighbour.”