Ethiopian News Agency

The ENA's inception dates back to 1942, when a news distribution service was opened as part of the Press Department, which was within the Press and Information Bureau. In 1943, the service was renamed Agence Direction, and assigned to the Ministry of Pen (Tsehafi Tae'zaz in Amharic). It can be argued that it was the first national wire service in Africa, as no other African country had an indigenous service of the kind, due to colonialism, wherein social, political and economic institutions were established by, and made to serve, the interests of the colonial powers. Agence Direction closed in 1947 due to budget constraints in the Ministry of Pen.