Broadcasting and promotion of development in sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Issues of development border on improving, advancing or modernizing the living conditions of people especially in the developing world. Countries of the region known as the Sub Sahara are known to be among the poorest in the world. They record some of the poorest indices on human development compared to other regions of the world. In order to get out of poverty, these countries need to efficiently promote various aspects of development. The development media theory advocates the use of the media such as broadcasting to help spur development. Unfortunately, broadcasting systems in the Sub Sahara region are beset by numerous problems including government interference, poor and lack of funding, unfavourable ownership structures and poor infrastructure making them unable to reach their intended audiences in rural areas. Although there are many development projects and programmes funded by governments and international aid agencies, these are not very effective because of, among other things, the poor performance of the broadcasting systems. This paper uses the development media theory to show the importance of broadcasting to the promotion of development in poverty-stricken Sub-Saharan Africa. Having observed the setbacks faced by broadcasting systems in the regions, the paper concludes that removing these constraints can help spur the region to greater prosperity.

Keywords: broadcasting, promotion, development, Sub-Saharan Africa, constraints, projects