Chinese Government provides grant for Access to Satellite TV for 500 Malawian Villages Project

In 2015, the Chinese Government announced the Satellite TV Project for 10,000 villages in 25 countries in Africa. The announcement occurred at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation at the Johannesburg Summit (see to Umbrella Project ID#57618). Then, on August 21, 2018, a Chinese Government grant-financed Access to Satellite TV for 500 Malawian Villages Project was officially launched in Mponela, Dowa District. The monetary value of the Chinese Government’s grant commitment is unknown. The purpose of the project was to provide satellite TV reception to 20 households in each of 500 villages. The project facilitated the provision of 500 solar-powered digital TV sets, 1,000 solar-powered projectors, and 10,000 digital decoder sets, with the Government of Malawi funding the rest of the project. StarTimes was responsible for project implementation. This project was completed on November 18, 2019.

Additional details

The Access to Satellite TV for 500 Malawian Villages Project should not be confused with the separate, but related, Digital Migration Project. In 2016, China's StarTimes Group and Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) established a joint venture (special purpose vehicle) to implement the Digital Migration Project (see Project ID#57540). China Eximbank and the joint venture were in negotiations regarding a $132 million loan (with a 20 year maturity, 5 year grace period, and 2% interest rate) to finance the Digital Migration Project (also known as the Satellite Television in 500 Villages Project). However, it is unclear if this loan agreement was ever finalized.

Number of official sources

5

Number of total sources

16