Angela Lewis explores Chinese influence in Africa through the prism of satellite television. Specifically, she analyses how StarTimes, a private pay-television company, provides programming in markets that Western companies consider unprofitable, and how it has successfully become a Chinese diplomatic instrument that reaches 30 million Africans. While a private company with a different approach from Chinese state media, it remains supported by Chinese banks and fits into China’s broader foreign policy strategy. Drawing on a dataset of media publications about StarTimes from 2015 to 2020 and interviews conducted in Ghana, Kenya and Zambia, Lewis shows how public diplomacy can be ‘unstable territory’ shaped by struggles between vested interests within an influencing country, the realities of a target country, and the objectives of a non-state company (p. 6).
The book has six chapters, including an introduction and conclusion. Lewis begins the book by discussing the framework, which situates StarTimes as a ‘hybrid’ actor: a ‘non-state, private company’ driven by profit but nevertheless connected to the Chinese ‘government through public-private-partnership (PPP) deals’ (p. 4). Ultimately, the company’s programming, access to television and employment opportunities contributed to African perceptions about China, including views about Chinese assistance to Africa, and presented China as an alternative to the West. She also explains the book’s methodology and reasons for focusing on the period between 2015 and 2020, when StarTimes became a Chinese government contractor, and she discusses her interview process, which she uses to understand receptivity in rural Africa.
Moving to the broader context, Lewis examines branding and how public diplomacy cannot be perceived as propaganda because audiences would be less receptive to state-run media. She argues that the StarTimes case study shows the ‘alignment between the company and China’, reflecting a convergence of company–country image building (p. 29). Turning to specifics, Lewis explores the Access to Satellite TV 10,000 Villages Project, which provided satellite infrastructure and solar energy to African villages that lacked them – starting in Saina village, Kenya – and African views of the project. Drawing on press articles and interviews, she found that the news coverage was positive but shaped by publicity material, while the village respondents praised the initiative, citing the quality of content and price. Building from this, Lewis explores StarTimes’ public image by looking at how African and, to a lesser extent, international press framed the company’s operations as forging relations with African filmmakers, rather than as a tool of the Chinese government. She highlights StarTimes’ ‘positive image in the news’ but notes that there is ‘a lack of stories regarding the China link’, while there is largely negative sentiment from media professionals who associate ‘StarTimes with China’ (p. 96).
Likewise, Lewis demonstrates the power of ‘sport diplomacy’ by describing how StarTimes’ sponsorships of domestic football teams (despite some scandals) gave viewers as well as sports journalists positive perceptions of the company. Indeed, sponsoring sports in less developed areas of Africa has the potential to earn long-term rewards vis-à-vis broadcasting rights and intellectual property. She writes: ‘Findings suggest that public diplomacy credibility necessitates real sharing of responsibilities and power, for instance granting greater space for African agency in decision-making regarding the direction of the company’ (p. 116). Lastly, in the book’s conclusion, Lewis explains how StarTimes is a successful symbol of Chinese engagement in Africa whereby both China and Africa receive benefits from the company’s work. She notes that, while African agency in China’s Africa media has grown, the power ultimately resides in Beijing, and companies such as StarTimes remain a tool for Chinese soft power.
This book successfully uses StarTimes as a case study for understanding China’s soft power. Moving away from state-operated media, the author demonstrates how private companies fit into the broader Going Out policy, which encourages Chinese business to engage in foreign activities. Furthermore, this examination of StarTimes shows Africans’ positive receptivity to Chinese media, highlighting how both China’s public diplomacy and Africans have received benefits. Yet Lewis predicts that such perceptions may change: ‘StarTimes has managed to keep a low profile, but as its projects are spreading its influence and the subscriber base grows, that will not remain the case’ (p. 126).
Lewis’s analysis sheds light on the themes and narratives surrounding a hybrid private–government actor, which is influencing African perceptions of China while also offering a much needed service to rural Africa. Yet the book has some limitations: it focuses on just one company and – as Lewis acknowledges – the interviews with customers come from just one village. Indeed, a wider analysis of other Chinese companies or other countries’ soft power media projects would provide comparative research to highlight further complexities, competitions, successes and failures. Likewise, how this effort fits into the great power competition in Africa is not well explored. Nor does the book delve into African opposition to foreign influence in detail, only briefly mentioning Nigerian criticism about Chinese films replacing local culture. Nonetheless, this book is a recommended study for scholars of public diplomacy, soft power and foreign relations.
