As African leaders gather in Beijing this week for the triennial China-Africa summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping may have one thing under his belt to boast about – satellite TV.
Almost nine years ago, President Xi promised the heads of state attending the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Johannesburg that China would provide over 10,000 remote villages in 23 African countries with digital TV access.
With over 9,600 villages having received satellite infrastructure, the project is now nearing completion.
The ambitious pledge, revealed during a period of warm China-Africa relations and funded by China’s aid budget, was entrusted to StarTimes, a private Chinese company already operating in several African countries.
It was an apparent show of goodwill and an opportunity for China to flex its soft power in a strategically important region. (BBC News)
