Have you ever heard of China ruling the roost in Africa through its network of digital TV ? Many would ask how the TV and China are correlated in Africa. Is it something based on fiction bereft of facts? A closer look at the developments that have been unfurling for the last two decades or so establish a curious link between TV and Chinese popularity in Africa. To put it differently, how China has leveraged the soft power of TV to get the grip on hard core business is an apt case study for a management student.
A curious fact is that StarTimes is a lesser known media company compared to its counterparts in the West, such as Star and CNN, But the China based StarTimes is almost a household name in Africa. It has 10 million subscribers in 30 African countries. Also, StarTimes, which is synonymous with Chinese government under the tutelage of its President Xi Jinping’s is executing a massive project across 10,000 Villages to take digital television to impoverished parts of Africa.
Those who believe that the Chinese strategy is to make a profit from providing digital TV for the African population are mistaken. Return from TV investment may be bordering absurdity since many believe that it is not going any return to media company, rather losses only. China has a long strategy while reaching out to the African population in 30 countries and its plans to gradually get into other 25 countries and their households. What did Beijing gain by beaming television programs through the digital TV networks, mostly Chinese programs dubbed in different African Vernacular languages?
It is a clever strategy to spread Chinese profile among the Africans, how they live, their standard of living, state-of -the –art facilities etc to build an aura around that country among Africans. BBC may be having the widest network in the continent, But StarTimes scores over it in terms of the influence it is exerting in the minds of Africans. Its unstated message is the 1.2 billion peoples’ market, which will grow exponentially in the coming years thanks to its demographic dividend, will give its American and European competitors a chase for their money. Admittedly, that will boost the bottom lines of the Chinese companies, which otherwise keep a low profile.
The other side of the story is that perception of Africa to the outside world is changing fast. It may look paradox that highly respected Economist carried a cover story In 2000 about Africa titled “The Hopeless Continent.” The story underscored the under belly of Africa, highlighting widespread AIDS, squalor, destitution, sporadic fights, tribal conflicts, and genocide which took away thousands of precious lives. The story designed to evoke sympathies of the outside world, very soon turned out to be a lip service. Undeniably, billions of aid money had flown to the continent along with an accelerated effort to drill for oil exploration and in establishing military bases by the western forces.
Meanwhile, Chinese embarked on a different approach. The then Chinese President Jiang Zemin invited heads of state in Africa to attend the inaugural Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing, which discussed how the two regions could better work together as a part of China’s Going out strategy.
Chinese entrepreneurs started scouting African market, even though it was very nascent at that stage. That included George Zhu, who combed Nigeria with his cheap multi-SIM handsets. Later, it has become the biggest smartphone player in the continent. Huawei started operating in Kenya taking baby steps in the technology side. Pang Xinxing moved his telecommunications company StarTimes away from the saturated Chinese market into Africa.
The rest is history and the trailblazing story of Chinese companies to expand African market through their carefully orchestrated marketing strategies, innovations, technology value additions and importantly placing Africa and its people at the cornerstone of its growth strategy.
After a gap of 19 years, same Economist has carried a cover story about Africa. This time around, it was meant to send signals about the investment opportunities. China followed by India was reckoned as the largest investors in continent. To cut short a long story short, from a hopeless continent, Africa has become a happening continent.
The often raised question is: can that traction continuewhile others including the US and Europe are trying to hijack the initiatives from China. Only time can tell about it.
