File photo taken on July 3, 2018 shows China's StarTimes employees installing the satellite television device at the Likii village in the central Kenyan county of Laikipia. (Xinhua/Jin Zheng)
A China-Africa cooperative project has enabled 200 villages in the West African nation Benin access satellite television. Benin's national broadcaster reported that this would help reduce the digital divide in the country. The project, part of the outcomes of the 2015 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit held in Johannesburg, South Africa, aims to bring satellite TV services to 10,000 villages across Africa.
COTONOU, Sept. 25 ( Xinhua) -- The government of China has provided 200 villages in Benin with equipment for free access to satellite television to reduce the digital divide, a report on Benin national television said on Tuesday.
The donation is part of the implementation of the project "satellite television access for 10,000 villages in Africa" designed to bridge the digital divide in African rural areas, the source explained.
Staff members of StarTimes, which was implementing the satellite TV access project in Africa, posed for a photo with officials from China's National Radio and Television Administration in Ounkeme, Benin on Aug. 2, 2019. The NRTA officials were in the country to inspect the project upon its completion in Benin. (photo provided by StarTimes)
"It benefits our village, as people come along to distract themselves and comment on reports broadcasted by satellite TV channels," said Richard Owotan, chief of Vakon village in Oueme department, in the report.
The project is part of the ten priority programs of cooperation intended to stimulate the cooperation between China and Africa within a three-year period.■
