Mass media in Burundi

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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

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

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)[1]:

• 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.

Internet

Burundi has launched a $25 million investment project in a fibre-optic cable network to widen access to broadband Internet and cut costs.^[3]

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.^[4]

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

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