The trouble with state broadcasters across Africa, by Aderemi Ogunpitan

In a perfect world, a State broadcaster would be the guardian of trust, informing, educating, and entertaining with independence and integrity. It would reflect cultural and linguistic diversity, provide children and educational content, and serve as a reliable voice in moments of crisis. It would answer only to the public good, not politicians or advertisers.

Across Africa, reality tells a different story. State broadcasters here function as political mouthpieces, underfunded and politically captured.

South Africa’s SABC relies on advertising for nearly 80% of its income while its licence system has collapsed. Ghana’s GBC faces political battles over its licence fees. Nigeria’s NTA depends on government subventions and advertising. Kenya’s KBC struggles on state grants while seeking new revenue streams. In such fragile systems, editorial independence is the first casualty and political control is enforced.

There are lessons to build on. Namibia’s NBC survives on a statutory mix of subsidies, licence fees, and commercial sales. Mauritius collects its licence through electricity bills to ensure predictable revenue. South Africa has codified editorial policies through public consultation and launched digital platforms like SABC Plus. Rwanda’s RBA has legal provisions to safeguard independence. None are perfect, but they show what is possible when governance and funding state broadcasters are insulated from politics.

Still, the contradiction remains and its huge. How can a media space be fair and impartial when governments control appointments of regulators, boards, management, advertising and media practice directly through organisations and proxies they appoint and fund at their pleasure? When the referee and the player wear the same jersey, impartiality cannot exist. It’s control.

Elections suffer most. Without impartial broadcasters, capture of broadcast and media space, guarantees that political campaigns become staged performances, opposition voices are stifled, and trust collapses.

In information-volatile societies, where rumours spread faster than fact, the vacuum left by captured broadcasters fuels division and unrest. And, when its one-sided, dangerous.

Impartial media is not a luxury; it is the stabiliser of democracy. It would be foolhardy for us to forget that as we roll into 2027.