RFI mourns death of Africa specialist and Editor-in-Chief
Radio France Internationale (RFI) and its sister television channel France24 are mourning the death of our colleague, editor-in-chief and Africa specialist Jean-Karim Fall.He died last Friday in Taormina, Sicily, whilst covering the G7 summit. He was 59.
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Born to a French mother and a Senegalese father (a former ambassador and minister), he spent part of his youth in Niger,
He graduated from the University of Toulouse before completing a post-graduate course at one of France’s top journalism institutes, the Ecole Supérieure de Journalisme, in Lille.
He started working at RFI in 1984, covered events in war zones and crisis areas – the first Gulf War in 1990-1991; the civil war in Liberia (he was once detained by warlord Charles Taylor at his Gbarnga stronghold, who accused him of being a spy for Senegal) – Taylor later became president; the first outbreak of Ebola in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo).
Africa Experience
Jean-Karim was RFI’s correspondent in Côte d’Ivoire (1992-1995 – and broke the news of president Félix Houphouët-Boigny’s death in December 1993).
He then served in Gabon, where he stayed a short time before taking over the reins of the Africa service in 1996.
In 2012 he joined France24, where he was appointed editor-in-chief and continued to focus on the African continent.
He had a knack for bringing to life such potentially yawn-provoking events as African Union (AU) summits – he would cut to the quick, ask the right questions and present difficult issues clearly and concisely
It helped that he knew so many people at those summits, from heads of state to the most humble assistants, as a colleague recalls.
And he would happily point out English-speaking ministers and officials to journalists from our service who were detailed to their first AU gathering .
'Vieux crocodile'
One reporter, in particular, remembers: “The long-lasting memory I’ll have of Jean-Karim Fall is time we spent together during the 2011 African Union summit in Equatorial Guinea. The summit was dominated by the crisis in Libya that led to the eventual downfall of Moamer Gadhafi.
"However, our assignment to Equatorial Guinea for RFI was soon under threat following our arrival in the capital Malabo. Jean-Karim was detained by the authorities at the airport and kept for several hours.
" Our team waited and eventually the intervention of an attaché from the French embassy led to Jean-Karim being granted entry. The troubles we encountered didn’t end there. When we arrived at the hotel, we were told that our reservation didn’t exist and instead had to find accommodation at the so-called ‘Media Village’.
"This sounded rather grand and well-organised, but in reality, construction on the buildings wasn’t finished. The rooms had no furnishings, were infested with mosquitos and had very patchy electricity and internet connection.
"These conditions weren’t ideal, but the real menace presented itself in the form of angry policemen who watched our every move as well as phone calls from high-ranking government officials to Jean-Karim when they disagreed with his radio reports.
" Despite these challenges, working alongside Jean-Karim was a pleasure, especially given that I was a cub reporter with limited experience. He was wise, knowledgeable and looked out for his colleagues. This was especially evident when working in the face of adversity.”
One of the young journalists at France24 admiringly recounted how impressed she was to discover that this “old crocodile” (“vieux crocodile”, as he tagged himself and this writer) took the time to give her feedback on her work, highlighted the good points, and provided pointers on how to improve what had not been so felicitous – all delivered in an amiable tone.
Jean-Karim will be remembered as a passionate, highly experienced and professional journalist, a treasure trove of information when it came to French Africa’s often-arcane world of alliances, power struggles, and personalities.
And then, there was the Anglo-Saxon world, that is, the English speakers and their political leaders, whom Jean-Karim would jocularly refer to as “the masters of the world”.
Indeed, he had a sharp sense of humour, had a wealth of stories and anecdotes to tell, loved to speak Italian.
He leaves a wife and two grown-up children.
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