The 45-year-old Van Leeuwen will report for RTL from Cape Town and travel across Africa creating stories that “touch the mind and the heart”.

“Africa is exploding with urgency,” says Van Leeuwen. “It all comes together: our search for raw materials, extreme climate change, large migratory flows, geopolitics. It’s a young continent full of creative ideas. We’re going to film it!” .

previous job

For the past five years Van Leeuwen has worked in The Hague for BNR Nieuwsradio. There she wrote, among other things, about the Corona crisis and, together with Lorenz Boven, wrote a book called Silence in the Binnenhof, Politics in the Time of Corona. She also did the podcast “Studio Den Haag”.

Van Leeuwen previously worked as a freelance correspondent in Brussels during the financial crisis, and as a correspondent for the Africa editorial at Wereldomroep and at VPRO.

‘happy with – happy with’

Ilse Openneer, Editor-in-Chief of RTL Nieuws, is looking forward to contributions from Africa. “The continent contains major themes and also attracts the attention of many countries – such as China and Russia – who are investing a lot there.”

“The future of Africa affects the whole world and is therefore of great importance to journalism. With Sophie, RTL Nieuws is getting a very experienced journalist in Africa and we are really happy about that.”