By Kondwani Magombo

Lilongwe, September 28, Mana: Malawi Government has asked Chinese company, StarTimes Media to consider inclusion of local channels for viewers in the country's rural areas to have access to local programs, in addition to foreign content provided under the project.

Principal Secretary (PS) for Ministry of Information and Digitalization, Baldwin Chiyamwaka, made the call in Lilongwe on Friday when he received equipment for Phase II of the ChinaAid's Access to Satellite TV for 10,000 African Villages, and officially opened the project.

Chiyamwaka hailed StarTimes Media for the project which will see 200 villages across the country access satellite TV and have their knowledge broadened regarding what is happening around the world.

However, the PS said much as the foreign content is necessary for the viewers to appreciate the broader picture of the world, local content on the service provider’s list of programs would allow Malawians have a wider spectrum of events happening across the globe.

“So, just like we now have some channels on DSTV, we would like, also, to have local channels like Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), Zodiac Broadcasting Services (ZBS), Times, and other channels on Start Times – and that's the agreement,” he said.

The PS described the Access to Satellite TV for 10,000 African Villages as an enabling tool for Access to Information, one of the legislative provision that government is advancing to ensure transparency and accountability between duty bearers and the citizenry.

“It's a very, very good source of information for people in the rural areas: We're expecting them to follow current affairs, apart from education and entertainment,” said Chiyamwaka.

He also asked the Chinese company to consider increasing the number of villages to benefit from the second phase of the project so that as many Malawians as possible should access the satellite TV services and be connected to the world.

StarTimes Media Chief Executive Officer (CEO), David Pan, said his company would consider the PS’s appeal and that the requested local TV channels will be included on the ‘free-to-air’ list.

On the need to increase the number of villages to benefit from the project, the CEO said the proposal “is under talks” and he hoped for the better.

“We’re in talks with officials from the Chinese government, through the Chinese Embassy, and for me, I believe that we might have some updates on this point,” said Pan.

The second phase is building on the first phase that saw successful installation of the satellite TV sets in 500 villages across the country in 2019.

By the end of this year, StarTimes Media is expected to have installed 4,000 digital decoders, 400 solar projection satellite TV systems, and 200 digital TVs for free in public institutions and households under the second phase of the project.

Access to Satellite TV for 10,000 African Villages project is a ChinaAid initiative that was proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in 2015, and Malawi is among the countries benefiting from the project.