CNN’s Eleni Giokos is taking on a new, expanded role at the network and moving to the United Arab Emirates as an Anchor & Correspondent.
Giokos, who will be based in Dubai, will take on additional anchoring responsibilities for CNN, primarily working with Becky Anderson on the network’s flagship Middle East programme, Connect the World, anchored from CNN’s Abu Dhabi bureau. She will also bring her more than 15 years’ international reporting experience, particularly in business, across the region.
Although based in Dubai, she will also continue to anchor her show, Connecting Africa, travelling often into and across the continent from the UAE. In addition, she will be central to CNN Marketplace Middle East, which launches later this year.
Meara Erdozain, SVP of Programming at CNN International, said: “Eleni is an outstanding anchor as well as a skillful and exceptionally versatile correspondent. This move will bring that talent and experience to a new region. Being based in Dubai, one of the world’s most connected cities, will also mean she can maintain her presence in Africa, and build on the success of her Connecting Africa show.”
“This is such an exciting time to be moving to the UAE,” Giokos said. “There are so many interesting business and cultural stories there, and with Dubai Expo on the horizon it is a really dynamic moment. I’m also incredibly passionate about Africa, and the beauty of this move is that I will be able to travel easily across the continent from my new home.”
Since joining CNN in 2015 from Bloomberg TV Africa, Giokos has reported on the ground across Africa, from Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt and Zimbabwe, to Rwanda, Senegal, Ghana, Lesotho and more. She has highlighted the growing links between Africa and Asia while reporting from South Korea and Kazakhstan, travelled to the United States to report from Washington DC, and anchored shows from the network's London, New York, and Atlanta hubs.
Johannesburg will remain a key hub for CNN, with the newsgathering team led by international correspondent David McKenzie continuing to be based in the bureau there.
