London — A small number of Africa's state broadcasters have re-invented themselves for the digital age and as a consequence have sharpened their content offer. But in the main they have been the losers as the media landscape has changed. Russell Southwood looks at a new report on Kenya's KBC that lays bare the problems it faces.
The African Governance Monitoring and Advocacy Project Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa and Open Society Media Program have recently published a report on the governance and finances of the public broadcaster KBC. The report has been presented to Government and according to country's Secretary nominee for ICT and Digital Economy, Eliud Owalo a revamping and restructuring is long overdue.
From what has emerged from the report, the problems - which have been obvious for at least a decade - are as follows:
* The broadcaster has entered into a number of service contracts that are long-running, financially disadvantageous and the terms of which have not seen the light of day. Only the most naïve will not know why this has occurred and it will therefore be quite difficult to unravel these contracts.
* It has debts that can rarely be authenticated. Again only the very naïve would not understand how this has occurred and that the debts cannot be authenticated for a reason.
* Staff need to be rejuvenated and that many existing service contracts are not 'fit for purpose'.
* According to a report in the Star on the report: "As a news institution, many times, its competitive edge is muzzled by administrative fiat, public sector procedures and external considerations rather than professionalism."
In my conversations over the years about the reform of KBC with local figures, attention is usually focused one of two ways. Journalists and viewers are understandably focused on the limitations that the state broadcaster has in terms of its news output. There are occasional conversations about try to re-invent KBC as a public broadcaster but these are 'will of the wisp' without fundamental legal reform that would be absolutely precedent-breaking.
The insiders on this conversation often describe it as if it were a World Bank reform project in the making. It just needs to sell off some of its many properties and adopt a different business model: the latter also seems to be a conclusion of the report. KBC has been slow to adopt the digital changes needed but that will not - as other broadcasters have discovered - uncover large amounts of new revenues. However, it will connect it with new audiences if it does it well. The company does have huge assets that include its many TV and audio studios but this is not the heart of the problem.
At the heart of the problem must be a management culture where personal interests outweigh those of KBC's as an organization. Since the Government legally has oversight of the body for decades and even though the problems are widely discussed, it has done nothing, so what are we to conclude?
And as the Daily Star commentator concluded: "It's only when media enterprises are self-sustaining - financially liberated from corruptive practices, government influence, or dependence on foreign non-governmental organizations- that they will be more likely to assert and maintain their editorial freedom and required independence."
However, what he describes is a private broadcaster reliant on advertising revenues and there are already a number of very successful channels in the market. What needs to be defined is what role the state broadcaster will play 'in the public interest', whether Government will fund it to play this role and whether it is serious about giving it a legal framework to become a public broadcaster?
In brief section is after the events listing below.
Africa 2.0 Book launch events - Cape Town and Johannesburg (In person)
CAPE TOWN (IN PERSON): Keynote Panel: Looking Back, Going Forward: How Africa's Tech History Contains the Roots of its' Future, Africa Tech Festival
From the first mobile roll-out in Africa to the present day, Africa's communications revolution has taken 36 years and, arguably, this is just the end of the beginning. The author of Africa 2.0 - Inside a Continent's Communications Revolution, Russell Southwood will moderate a session with industry veterans who played key roles in this historic journey to tease out what it can tell us about what will happen over the next ten years. Panelists are: Andile Ngcaba, Founding Partner and Chairman, Convergence Partners, Nic Rudnick, CEO, Liquid Intelligent Technologies; Funke Opeke, CEO, Main One and Nika Naghavi, Executive Director - MNOs, MFS Africa
- Mobile data & infrastructure: how roll-out barriers were negotiated and what work remains
- Mobile money the transformer: how these services came to be born and the future of this 'magic sauce'
- Digital life: how Africans have taken to using the internet and why the best is yet to come
- Innovation & start-ups: what lit the fuse for African start-ups and how they will change how business is done in Africa?
Africa Tech Festival Headline Keynote, Tuesday, 8 November 2022 09:40 - 10:25CAT (Central Africa Time, GMT+2), Convention Centre, Cape Town Entrance to this event is free.
CAPE TOWN (IN PERSON): Africa 2.0 - Inside a Continent's Communications Revolution - The author Russell Southwood in conversation with Alison Gillwald, Executive Director, Research ICT Africa
Liberalization lit the fuse for the communications revolution that has happened over the last three decades. Privatization has proved far more problematic and has sometimes led to the very problems it was meant to solve. Russell and Alison will also discuss whether the consolidation of Africa's mobile operators is lowering the competition levels liberalization was designed to create, the tendency towards de facto monopolies in areas like mobile money and social media and the policy implications of the barriers to further liberalization and privatization across the continent.
Although the digital divide has been reduced over the last three decades, it is very clear that there is an unfinished agenda. The speakers will debate what still needs to be done and how it might be achieved.
Time: Tuesday 8 November 2022, 18.00-19.00 Drinks and snacks afterwards Place: Workshop 17, 17 Dock Road, V & A Waterfront RSVP NOW: Melanie George info@researchictafrica.net
JOHANNESBURG (In person and online): How Mobile Phones Have Changed Africa - An Unfinished Revolution 35 Years in the Making
Luci Abrahams, Director of the Wits Centre, will have a lively, in-person conversation and debate with Russell Southwood, long-time African telecoms and internet analyst and author a just-published book Africa 2.0 - Inside a Continent's Communications Revolution.
Southwood's book is an ambitious 35-year, "first draft" history of the largest technological change the continent has ever seen. It looks at both the economic and social impacts that have occurred, and goes beyond the hype to show what happened, what has not changed, and what will help guide future efforts.
Topics covered will include:
How have mobile phones changed African economies and societies? - Where are the new opportunities we can leverage?
Who are the innovators and initiators?
What will Africa 3.0 look like and what is needed to get there?
Time: Friday 11 November 2022, 16.30-18.00 Drinks and snacks afterwards Place: Classroom 7, Wits Business School, 2 St Davids Place (at St Andrews Rd.), Parktown, Johannesburg Online: Microsoft Teams meeting: Click here to join the meeting; Meeting ID: 352 280 713 048; Passcode: 3QJnzV RSVP NOW Registration link to attend either in-person or online: https://bit.ly/11Nov22EventReg
Any questions? Please contact the LINK Centre's Nokhanyo Yolwa: thelma.yolwa@wits.ac.za, +27-71-939-8867
In Brief
South Africa: The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has disclosed that the projected roll-out and launch plan of SABC+, as the public broadcaster's own planned video streaming service, is in an advanced stage, although a specific date is not yet known.
MultiChoice has revealed that it has entered into a broadcast partnership with WWE Network that will see the latter's streamer Showmax become the new home of WWE in Africa.
According to a report seen by BMA, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has begun plans to shut down the Hausa Service broadcast operations as part of efforts to transition entirely from TV and radio to digital channels. It is confirmed that the "streamlining operation" will affect not only BBC Hausa TV but also its other radio and TV outlets, including Somali TV and Afrique TV broadcast stations. In addition, other programmes in African languages will also be converted to digital programming, and certain children's programmes will cease to run. It is also reported that the service's famous current affairs TV show 'Focus on Africa', which has aired for over 50 years, will be converted into a podcast. The BBC said that the transition was necessary to match the needs and habits of its audience. "Audience needs and habits are changing, and we know there is huge potential for digital growth across the continent," said a BBC spokesperson.
South Africa: eMedia's Openview planned to launch the BBC UKTV channel on its platform on Tuesday, 18 October 2022. However, over a week later, the channel still isn't available. In a statement, the satellite TV operator said the much-anticipated launch had to be postponed stating that it still has to finalise details for the channel. "We confirm that we planned to launch the BBC UKTV channel on Openview on 18 October," Openview explained. "We are disappointed to announce that the much-anticipated launch had to be postponed. However, we are working on finalising details for the channel."
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MTN Group has reported that the operator will host an Africa-first virtual concert in Ubuntuland, Africa's metaverse. According to MTN, in February, it became the first African company to purchase land in Ubuntuland with a vision to create dedicated environments for creating unique immersive experiences for its customers. Speaking about the concert, Bernice Samuels, Executive: Group Marketing at MTN Group, said, "The MTN Group's presence in the African metaverse will be known as altMTN. altMTN allows us to further support our ambition to lead digital platforms and support African innovation, and will, over time, feature live events, shopping, gaming and learning."
Uganda: On 13 October Ugandan President, Yoweri Musenvini, signed into law the Computer Misuse (Amendment) act containing provisions that will seriously hamper press freedom.
Nigeria: According to media reports, Nigeria's Oscar selection committee - Nigerian Official Selection Committee (NOSC)- has reaffirmed its stance on not submitting a film for the Academy International Feature Film category. BMA understands that the committee voted 9-6 in favour of "protecting" the initial votes of September 3, 2022. Members of the 15-member committee who voted against include Mahmood Ali-Balogun, the committee's Vice Chairperson, Mildred Okwo, Shaibu Husseini, Ego Boyo, Moses Babatope, and Kenneth Gyang. The NOSC has been embroiled in major internal crisis over its September voting process, which saw a majority of its members vote for the non-eligibility of any of the three contending films Kap films 'Anikulapo', EbonyLife films' 'Elesin Oba' and Euphoria 360's 'King of Thieves.' In a statement, NOSC chairperson Chineze Anyaene-Abonyi announced the committee's 'null' vote, a move that some members of the committee claim was "predetermined" and without the agreement of all 15 members.
The iconic entertainment nightly news show E! News will be returning to screens with Emmy-winning TV host and personality Adrienne Bailon-Houghton and E! News' Justin Sylvester as the show's co-hosts beginning in South Africa.
Kenya: Released in 2012, Nairobi Half Life has become the biggest theatrical success for a local film garnering both commercial and critical success along the way. Produced by One Fine Day Films and Ginger Ink and globally distributed by Rushlake Media, the film celebrated its 10th anniversary this past weekend in Nairobi with cast and crew in attendance. The film also made its Netflix debut on Friday, 21 October where it is now available to the streaming service's 223 million members in 190 countries.
