No fewer tha 23 countries, including Nigeria, have benefitted from the Chinese “Access to Satellite TV, The Nation learnt. 


10,000 villages in Africa, including Nigeria are to benefit from the Chinese Access to Satellite TV, according to the Chinese authorities.

The programme is being championed by StarTimes, the leading digit-TV operator in Africa.

This was contained in a document obtained by our correspondent on Saturday on the activities of Chinese in Nigeria and other African countries since 2015.

The document read, “In 2015, when Chinese President Xi Jinping, attended the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, he announced that China would help implement satellite TV programs for 10 thousand African villages.

“The project, known as “Access to Satellite TV for 10,000 African Villages”, has been undertaken by StarTimes, the leading digital TV operator in Africa.

“There shall be 10,112 rural villages of 23 African countries benefiting from the project. Each village is aided with two StarTimes Projector TVs, one 32-inch Digital TV set, and 20 DTH decoders with satellite dishes. Projector TVs and Digital TV sets are equipped with solar power systems and DTH access units.”

China said the Projector TVs and Digital TV sets are available in the public area of the village which allows the villagers to enjoy wonderful digital TV programs with 20 channels including the national station, local channels and international channels.

“The “Access to Satellite TV for 10,000 African Villages” project has established a wide coverage of programme signals, a secure and reliable infrastructure network and a comprehensive operating system, enabling people in remote areas to have stable and long-term access to the world’s information, thus bridging the digital divide between urban and rural areas in Africa,” the document added.