China funds Satellite Television project for 500 villages in Cote d'Ivoire (Linked to Umbrella Project ID#57618)

In 2015, during the Johannesburg Summit for the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), President Xi Jinping announced the "Access to satellite TV in 10,000 African villages" project (万村通卫星数字电视项目). StarTimes (四达时代) is implementing the project in rural regions of 25 different African countries (Umbrella Project ID#57618), including Cote d'Ivoire, and it is all paid for by the Chinese Government in the form of free assistance. On June 15, 2018, the Chinese Ambassador and Ivorian Minister of Foreign Affairs signed an exchange of letters committing to carry out this project for 500 villages in Cote d'Ivoire. StarTimes will install necessary infrastructure for digital terrestrial television including satellite dishes, home decoders, 1,000 sets of solar-powered projection TV systems, 500 sets of digital TV all-in-one terminals, 10,000 sets of set-top boxes, and satellite reception systems for 500 villages nationwide. The project was officially launched on October 24, 2019, in Abidjan. As of October 2021, many villages in the country are covered by the project. The project seems to still be in implementation stage.

Additional details

As of November 2021, many villages in the country are covered by the project. However, it is not indicated that the project has finished. Therefore, it is assumed that it is still being implemented, as the Chinese crew has encountered many difficulties to travel through isolated villages.

Number of official sources

5

Number of total sources

9