Chinese government funded satellite TV project in Burundi completed

Chinese Ambassador to Burundi Li Changlin signs the handover certificate with Burundi Minister of Communications and Media Frédéric Nahimana. [photo/cidca.gov.cn]

At the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation held in Dec 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping stated that China is willing to implement the “Ten Cooperation Plan” with the African side in the next three years, and proposed a Chinese government funded project, “Access to satellite TV for 10000 African villages” project, which aims to help residents of 10,000 villages in Africa watch satellite TV programs.

Implementing the commitment of President Xi, China launched the "Wan Cun Tong" project in Burundi through the South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund on June 16, 2018.

The “Access to satellite TV for 10000 African villages” project in Burundi was officially completed on March 1, 2019. Chinese Ambassador to Burundi Li Changlin attended the completion ceremony of the project and signed the handover certificate with Burundi Minister of Communications and Media Frédéric Nahimana. Representatives from provinces of Burundi, Chinese enterprises in Burundi and the Confucius Institute participated in the event.

Nahimana thanked the Chinese government, the Chinese embassy in Burundi and the project implementation company for their efforts, saying that the “Access to satellite TV for 10000 African villages” project was fully implemented in Burundi, providing digital televisions, projectors, and receiving terminals to 300 villages in Burundi, which greatly narrowed the distance between the people of Burundi and the outside world.

Over the years, China has provided a lot of assistance for the economic and social development of Burundi. In particular, China is a good friend of Burundi when it was in the most difficult time. Burundi is looking forward to expanding cooperation with China to benefit more Burundian people. Nahimana asked the local people and the government to properly maintain the equipment to better serve the country’s development.

Li said that Burundi is a trustworthy partner and China and Burundi have carried out close cooperation in the fields of infrastructure, agriculture, health and education. The successful implementation of the “Access to satellite TV for 10000 African villages” project in Burundi has further broadened the scope of cooperation between the two countries, opening a new window for local people to understand the world and broaden their horizons and showing that China’s cooperation with Africa is oriented to the grassroots.