“Providing the public with accurate information about COVID-19 is crucial, especially as Africa′s coronavirus response is regularly obstructed by fake news [and] this initiative will provide the millions of Africans who use Opera mobile applications with access to genuine, credible news content. We are proud to join forces with Opera to ensure that truthful, helpful and potentially life-saving information gains wider prominence in Africa” said APO Group Founder and Chairman, Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard.
APO Group -the leading pan-African communications and business consultancy, and Opera -one of the world’s leading browser providers and platforms in the field of integrated AI-driven digital content, are partnering to boost the prominence of truthful news articles related to the spread of COVID-19 across Africa. The APO Group Newsroom website will now be integrated into the Opera News platform used by 200 million users worldwide.
This partnership stems from the need to reduce the consumption of misleading news articles that include deliberate disinformation about COVID-19 in different African countries. It will provide millions of Opera users in the African region with official information from trusted and reputable online sources.
Regarding the integration of the APO Group Newsroom into the Opera News platform, Jørgen Arnesen, EVP of Mobile Browsers at Opera said, “We just hit a new record of 200 million users with Opera News, which positions our news service as one of the largest in the world. We believe our partnership with APO Group is a great fit for our mobile apps and will benefit hundreds of millions of users who search for COVID-19 information every day on the Opera Mini browser and the Opera News app.”
Available in Opera browsers and the Opera News app
For more than two months, APO Group has been collecting press releases and official statements from health ministries in Africa, the World Health Organization (WHO), the WHO Regional Office for Africa, and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). More than 3,000 press releases are now available for people using the popular Opera Mini browser and Opera News – the most downloaded news app in Africa.
Users who want to read the APO Group feed of news releases on the Opera Mini browser can tap on the Coronavirus channel in the browser’s newsfeed. Those using the Opera News app can also tap on the Coronavirus category in the app or follow the brand-new APO Group button in the Following section. The APO Group follow button in the Opera News app is currently available in Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, and Tanzania.
The circulation of both misinformation and rumors about the virus poses an enormous risk to the public, which is why APO Group and Opera are proud to team up to disseminate reliable and critically important information to the public.
