Mass media in Burundi

Mass media in Burundi mainly consists of radio, television, and printed resources, with a project underway to improve internet access to the country. Most mass media in Burundi is controlled by the government, and access to international mass media is limited.

Radio

See also: List of radio stations in Africa § Burundi

As of 30 June 2021, Burundi registers the following radio stations (Telecommunications Authority, 2021):

Nationally owned radio stations

• RADIO BUNTU IJWI RY’IMPFUVYI N’ABAPFAKAZI
• RADIO » IJWI RY’ IMBABAZI
• RADIO BENAA FM
• RADIO CCIB FM+
• RADIO AGAKIZA
• RADIO COLOMBE FM
• RADIO CULTURE
• RADIO DESTINY FM
• RADIO EAGLE SPORT FM
• RADIO FREQUENCE MENYA
• RADIO IJWI RY’ UMUKENYEZI
• RADIO ISANGANIRO
• RADIO IZERE FM
• RADIO MARIA BDI
• RADIO REMA FM
• RADIO SCOLAIRE NDERAGAKURA FM
• RADIO SPECIALE HUMURIZA FM
• RADIO STAR FM

Internationally owned radio stations

• RFI
• RADIO HIT AFRIQUE
• RADIO ROYAL MEDIA.

The addresses and frequency assigned to those stations are summarized in the table below (Communications Commission, 2021):

N	Name	Frequency	Station	Since	Key Contact	Address
1	RTNB	92.9 MHz	Bujumbura	1959	Jonas Ndikumurimyi
2	CCIB FM+	99.4 MHz	Bujumbura	1993	J. Jacques Ntamagara
3	CULTURE	88.2 MHz	Bujumbura	1999	Salomee Ndayishimiye	www.radioculture.org
4	NDERAGAKURA	87.9 MHz	Bujumbura	2000	Stany Nahayo	www.radionderagakura.org
5	IVYIZIGIRO	90.9 MHz	Bujumbura	2000	Onesime Habarugira
6	ISANGANIRO	89.7 MHz	Bujumbura	2002	Sylvere Ntakarutimana	www.isanganiro.org
7	MARIA	98.4 MHz	Bujumbura	2003	Abbe Desire Bireha

Further information (in French): List of radio stations in Burundi^{(redirect)  [ fr ]}

Television

Television in Burundi was introduced in 1984, with coverage having national reach in 1992. ^[1] As of 2004 there was still only one television service, the government-owned Télévision Nationale du Burundi.

The television stations registered in 2021 are the following (Telecommunications Authority):

• TELEVISION NATIONALE DU BURUNDI
• HERITAGE TV
• REMA TV
• TELEVISION ARGOS
• TELEVISION SALAMA
• CITIZEN TV (satellite)
• TELEVISION NUMERIQUE DENOMMEE « BEST ENTERTAINMENT TELEVISION (BE TV) »
• TELEVISION « MASHARIKI TV »
• TELEVISION BURUNDI BWIZA

Main channels

Name	Owner	Type	Launched
RTNB	Government of Burundi	State-owned	1975
Télé Renaissance	Bernard Henri Levy [2]	Private-owned	2008
Héritage TV	?
TV Salama
BeTV	?	Private	2017
MASHARIKI TV

There are also three main tele distributors:

• TELE -10
• STARTIMES
• AZAM MÉDIA.

Tele 10 started operations in 1997. By the mid-2000s it offered a limited package of French channels (Canal+ Horizons, TF6, LCI, TV5, France 2, etc.) as well as English-language channels from the DStv service. ^[3]

Internet

Main article: Communications in Burundi

Burundi has launched a $25 million investment project in a fibre-optic cable network to widen access to broadband Internet and cut costs. ^[4]

Print

Newspapers include:

• Arc-en-Ciel
• Burundi Chrétien
• Burundi Tribune
• Le Renouveau du Burundi

Iwacu, founded abroad in 1993, began publishing in Burundi as a weekly in 2008. It quickly became the most-circulated newspaper in Burundi and as of 2016 is the only privately-owned one. ^[5]

See also

• Burundian literature
• arte
• Internet censorship and surveillance in Burundi
• BeTV (Burundi)

Bibliography

• "Burundi: Directory: Broadcasting and Communications". Africa South of the Sahara 2004. Regional Surveys of the World. Europa Publications. 2004. p. 158. ISBN   1857431839.
• "Burundi", Freedom of the Press, USA: Freedom House, 2016, OCLC   57509361
• "Radio silence: Burundi's media targeted in ongoing political crisis", Global Voices , 17 February 2016 – via The Guardian

References

1. Legum, Colin, ed. (1994). Africa Contemporary Record 1992–1994. Vol. XXIV. New York: Africana Publishing Company. p. B-287. ISBN   978-0841905627.
2. "RFI - Création de Télé Renaissance". 1.rfi.fr. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
3. Histoire de la télévision en Afrique noire francophone, des origines à nos jours (in French). Karthala Editions. 2009. ISBN   978-2-8111-5085-3 . Retrieved 31 January 2024.
4. "Burundi invests $25 mln in high-speed Internet network". Reuters.com. 21 January 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
5. McCormick, Ty (15 January 2016). "The Last Newspaper in Burundi". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 26 December 2021.

External links

• "Burundi". Electronic Newspapers of Africa. Virtual Libraries: African Studies. New York, USA: Columbia University Libraries.
• Karen Fung, African Studies Association (ed.). "News (by country): Burundi". Africa South of the Sahara. USA – via Stanford University. Annotated directory