MUMBAI: To bolster network coverage of Africa, CNN recently made two key appointments. Lagos, Nigeria, bureau chief Jeff Koinange assumes the newly-created role of Africa correspondent, and Alphonso Van Marsh, currently based in Istanbul, will transfer to Johannesburg as a video correspondent.

Koinange will lead CNN’s coverage of Africa, working bureaus in Johannesburg and Lagos as well as with the network’s partners across the continent. Van Marsh will develop and deliver compelling reports inside South Africa.

CNN Intl senior VP news gathering Tony Maddox said, “These two appointments underscore CNN’s on-going commitment to fully cover and report from the African continent. Jeff brings unrivaled knowledge to this role, who together with Alphonso, brings a heightened commitment, experience and enthusiasm to the job of reporting Africa to CNN’s global audiences.”

Koinange joined CNN in 2001 to report on news events throughout Africa and the Middle East. During his tenure, he has covered post-war insurgency, reconstruction and historic elections in Iraq and strife in Darfur, Sudan, which brought visits from then-US Secretary of State Colin Powell and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in 2004.

Van Marsh joined CNN in 1997 as a freelance correspondent and producer and currently serves as a video correspondent, one of the network’s reporters who shoot, write and edit their own material using the network’s unique laptop-based newsgathering system. In December 2003, Van Marsh shot exclusive footage of US troops celebrating upon their return from the capture of Saddam Hussein.