Africa is a continent rich in natural resources and beauty, people, and Christian faith. It is also a land plagued by natural disaster, poverty, political upheaval, religious and ethnic strife, disease, and human rights abuses, all while lacking financial stability and reliable infrastructure to combat these problems.

In the midst of these difficulties, God has called Christians to shine the light of truth and many are answering the call by producing magazines and websites to lift up, and offer hope and guidance to African believers. African publishers need and desire training to do a better job.

The need for on-site training is obvious. Magazine Training International (MTI) has seen a 250% increase in the last five years of African publishers accessing MTI’s training resources. Still, only 15 African magazines have been able to send a representative to MTI conferences on other continents due to cost and the difficulty in obtaining visas to travel. Many of these publishing professionals will only be able to attend an MTI conference on African soil.

MTI is pleased to announce that our next on-site conference will be in Africa. Although MTI has trained publishing professionals from over 200 African magazines over the years, this will be the first MTI conference in Africa.

“We’re looking forward to beginning to work in Africa,” says Sharon Mumper, president of MTI. “We have already provided resources or services to nearly 200 Christian magazines in Africa. We would love to have the opportunity to meet those with whom we’ve communicated long distance, and to be able to provide more in-depth on-site training to the staff of these incredible magazines.”

“MTI in Africa” will feature an seven-day training event. The Magazine Publishing Institute will be held 30 September – 6 October, 2018, in Nairobi, Kenya.

The Magazine Publishing Institute will consist of three separate tracks on magazine editing, management management, and magazine design. Each participant will choose a track to get in-depth training on that subject. There will also be plenary sessions exploring how the three areas interact and impact each other.

This conference marks the start of a 10-year program in Africa. Future planned locations for Magazine Publishing Institutes include South Africa and Francophone Africa.

Over the last 29 years, MTI has offered courses and conferences for the staff of Christian magazines in dozens of countries, drawing an international audience.

by Jennifer Howard, communications director