Almost nine years ago, President Xi promised the heads of state attending the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Johannesburg that China would provide over 10,000 remote villages in 23 African countries with digital TV access.

With over 9,600 villages having received satellite infrastructure, the project is now nearing completion.

The ambitious pledge, revealed during a period of warm China-Africa relations and funded by China’s aid budget, was entrusted to StarTimes, a private Chinese company already operating in several African countries.

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As China’s economy struggles and Beijing re-calibrates its Africa strategy, the BBC visited four villages in Kenya to find out if this “soft power” initiative had paid off.

In the village of Olasiti, about three hours’ drive west of the capital, Nairobi, Nicholas Nguku gathered his friends and family to watch Kenyan athletes running at the Paris Olympics on television.

“I’m very happy to see the Olympics, which for many years we had not been able to see before we got StarTimes,” he said, speaking of the company’s installation of satellite dishes about four years ago.

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Analysts say that low pricing [of Chinese TV] initially helped to secure its foothold.

In Kenya, monthly digital TV packages range from 329 shillings ($2.50; £2) to 1,799 shillings ($14; £10.50).

In comparison, a monthly package for DStv, owned by MultiChoice, another major player in the African digital TV market, costs between 700 and 10,500 shillings.

While StarTimes partly relies on subscriptions for its core revenue, the “10,000 Villages Project” is funded by China’s state–run South-South Assistance Fund.

The satellite dishes all feature the StarTimes logo, Kenya’s Ministry of Information emblem, and a red “China Aid” logo. During the installation of these dishes, StarTimes representatives said that this was a “gift” from China, several villagers recalled.

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According to Dr Angela Lewis, an academic who has written extensively on StarTimes in Africa, the project had the potential to leave a positive image of China for African audiences.

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China’s influence extends to the content broadcast on StarTimes channels, with mixed results. Even the cheapest packages include channels like Kung Fu and Sino Drama, showcasing predominantly Chinese movies and series.

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Among villagers who have watched Chinese shows, many said they found the programming outdated, portraying Chinese characters in a one-dimensional way, with shows often centred around stereotypical themes.

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But football remains the ultimate attraction for African audiences. In 2023, for example, the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) had a record number of nearly two billion viewers globally, according to the Confederation of African Football.

Aware of this business opportunity, StarTimes has heavily invested in securing broadcasting rights for football matches, including Afcon, Spain’s La Liga and Germany’s Bundesliga.

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StarTimes as a private company has seen substantial success over the years, and the “10,000 Villages Project” has pushed the company to a new level of fame.

However, as Beijing hosts yet another FOCAC, the image-building effect of the project that China had hoped for has failed to materialise.

“There was an attempt for the government to rebalance the information flow that would put China under a positive light, but that has not materialised,” said Dr [Dani] Madrid-Morales [a lecturer at the University of Sheffield]. “The amount of money that has gone into this hasn’t really benefitted the Chinese government all that much.”

Many villagers the BBC spoke to were mostly concerned about content and costs. As rusty as several of the satellite dishes themselves, the project, once the talk of the town, has seemingly been relegated to a footnote in China’s soft-power outreach.

“Yes, we know it comes from China, but it makes no difference if no-one is using it,” said on villager, who has cancelled her StarTimes subscription.