(Source)
China’s ambitious project to provide digital TV access to 10,000 remote villages in 23 African countries is nearing completion, with more than 9,600 villages already connected. The initiative, promised by Chinese President Xi Jinping nearly nine years ago, is officially framed as a way to bridge the information gap in Africa, although some critics see it as a strategic move to expand Beijing’s influence on the continent.
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Window on the world: The “Project 10,000 villagesimplemented by Chinese company StarTimes, provides access to a diverse range of Chinese content, including news, sports and entertainment dubbed into the local languages of the region. For many of the remote communities, this is their first reliable television experience and an important link to the outside world.
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Mixed feedback: Many viewers express their preference for local news channels, with some complaining that the Chinese content was stereotypical. Others have raised concerns about the cost of subscriptions after the initial free trial. Dr Dani Madrid-Morales, a lecturer at the University of Sheffield, pointed out that the project’s image-building effect on China has been limited. “There was an attempt by the government to rebalance the information flow, which would show China in a positive light, but that didn’t work,” he told the BBC“The amount of money invested in this has not actually yielded much for the Chinese government.”
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