For two hours every day, 10 countries in East and Southern Africa will have the option of tuning into a new set of radio programmes — all broadcast in Kiswahili.

This follows the inauguration of Kiswahili services by broadcaster Radio France Internationale (RFI).
The inauguration was preceded by pilot broadcasts that began in July. On offer are newscasts, sports, music magazines and a daily interactive show.

From Mombasa on the Kenyan Coast to Kampala in Uganda, Manga in Burundi and Southern Rwanda, to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Southern Sudan, Madagascar and the Comoros, the new service (broadcasting from Dar es Salaam) is the broadcaster’s first foray outside West Africa.

“Historically and culturally, Radio France has had a strong presence in French-speaking Africa,” said Christine Ockrent, the chief operating officer of Audiovisuel Extérieur de la France, the French TV and Radio World Services.

In an interview with The EastAfrican in Nairobi, Ockrent said the publicly funded company includes RFI and its subsidiary MCD, France 24 and TV5 Monde.

The Kiswahili service is the organisation’s second in an African language. Already, Radio France operates a Hausa service that was launched in Lagos, Nigeria, three years ago.

It brings to 13 the number of languages that Radio France broadcasts in. A statement from the broadcaster indicated that long term plans are under way to further expand and enhance African programming.

Radio France managing director Geneviève Goëtzinger said the move to broadcast in African languages was in order to “empathise” with the listeners in Africa and address them in the languages they speak.

“If Radio France wants to win over new audiences and market share in the English and Portuguese speaking countries in Africa, it has to assert itself as the bilingual people’s radio,” Ms Goëtzinger said. This strategy is born out of the experience in broadcasting in Hausa. 

Dar es Salaam has been chosen to host the RFI Kiswahili service office due to the significance of the Kiswahili language in the country.

RFI is broadcasting the Kiswahili programmes in partnership with Tanzania’s national broadcaster, the Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation, which will provide office space as well as broadcasting facilities.

Ms Ockrent says that similar arrangements are being worked out in the other countries that it is operating in for both radio and television.

In Kenya, an agreement is in place with the national broadcaster, Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, which has been airing some of Radio France’s content, albeit at odd times (between 0300 and 0500 hours).

“We are eager to improve our presence,” she said, which alludes to the move towards the more prime slots between 0730 and 0800 hours, 0830 and 0900 hours and 1800 and 1900 hours, alongside all the other countries it will be airing in.

Ms Ockrent does not rule out the possibility of partnering with privately owned radio stations in the region for RFI’s Kiswahili service.

She says the organisation’s venture into East Africa was not prompted by the importance of the language in the region, but also by the vibrant culture.

She says the fact that the region is moving towards integration, in the footsteps of the European Union, is also a reason for the interest.

The inauguration of RFI’s Kiswahili services is expected to intensify competition for Kiswahili listenership among different players in the region.

“In a globalised world, communication and media are important elements,” Ms Ockrent says.

Besides broadcasting on FM radio, the organisation is also involved in cable, satellite, Internet and mobile phone platforms.

It has applications for iPhones and iPads. The content is generated by a team of journalists broadcasting from the organisation’s Paris studios, along with 600 correspondents worldwide.