Chinese Media Overtures in Africa: New Roles for Development Communication

The intensification of Sino-African relations that began with the turn of the twenty-first century has profoundly impacted economic development in many parts of Africa. In the media and telecommunications sectors, the Chinese State and Chinese multinational corporations engage with the continent in four ways: infrastructure development; media content production and distribution; direct investment in local media; and training of journalists. While some projects operate under an aid and development rationale, economic profit is the primary driving force in most cases. This paper looks at China’s role in the development of terrestrial digital TV in a dozen of African countries as an illustrative example of the market logic of Chinese engagements. I claim that while domestically Chinese authorities have embraced traditional approaches to ICT4D, interventions in Africa are governed by China’s policy of non-interference and they need to be understood within the officially sanctioned narratives of “mutually beneficial” and “win-win” relations.