Television as a development tool in sub-Saharan Africa

Every time a person below the poverty line uses part of a microcredit or their savings to buy a mobile phone or a television, some put their hands on their heads, judging them for using their funds for that, when there are days when They do not have their maintenance assured. But mobile phones are a crucial tool in development, making it possible to have key information to be able to sell products at a fair price, improve the way of production, develop a credit history or pay in installments for essential products such as solar lamps, which in turn They improve their education, health, nutrition and offer a way out of poverty.

The same thing is happening with television. 74% of Kenyan households watch television once a week, compared to 24% in 2014. The number of these devices has increased exponentially in the African country thanks to the possibility of paying for them in installments and supplying them with solar energy.

Some families, especially in more rural areas, turn this device into a business; Their neighbors pay to watch the most popular soccer game or the current series. Additionally, television remains one of the most equitable ways to reach children, especially in terms of education.

Currently, 14.9 million Kenyan children under the age of 14 have access to television. However, only eight of the country's 137 channels meet the regulatory requirement of broadcasting five hours a week of children's content, an already quite lax requirement.

To take advantage of this opportunity, in April 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, Akili Network launched Akili Kids!, a free television channel dedicated to children's learning in Kenya and East Africa. Since then, it has become the most watched children's channel in the country. On average, 7.6 million children under 18 and more than five million parents watch it weekly, reaching one in four little Kenyans.

The channel broadcasts edutainment in key areas – critical thinking and literacy skills or science, technology, engineering and mathematics – while supporting creativity, imagination and social-emotional skills. Akili ensures that all programs and activities are learning-oriented, developmentally appropriate, safe and fun. Her teen series

Flash Squad

, which teaches internet protection strategies to young people, is one example. According to an internal survey, 83% of viewers feel safer going

online

after watching

Flash Squad

and 95% could remember a way to mitigate an online threat.

According to Akili's 2023 impact report, 28% of its viewers live below the poverty line

In line with its goal of creating a channel focused on the family, including teenagers, parents and caregivers, it has also created a more protective advertising policy for children and significantly limited commercial advertising during children's programming hours and on weekends.

So, AkiliKids! has managed to be the number one channel in Kenya for households with children under 18 before six in the afternoon and number two in households with children between six and ten in the afternoon, changing the prime time of the evenings on the other channels during daytime hours.

According to Akili's 2023 impact report, 28% of its viewers live below the poverty line. With the recent launch of Baze; An online streaming service powered by Safaricom, a leading telecommunications provider in East Africa, families without a television can access it on their mobile phone for 10 Kenyan shillings (0.06 euros) per day.

For 96% of customers, that study says, AkiliKids! It has a strong positive effect on academic learning, for 92% a good learning experience, helping in the development of preschool speech, literature and arithmetic.

The channel's goal is to replicate its model for the more than 400 million children under 18 years of age on the African continent. In December 2022, the investment fund Rwanda Innovation Fund decided to invest in the company. According to its manager, Angaza Capital, they aim to “increase Akili's positive educational impact on African families and allow greater access and more local educational content.”

María López Escorial 

is a consultant specialized in social innovation and business solutions to combat poverty, and a professor at the Instituto de Empresa since 2002. She was chosen in the Top 100 Women Leaders in Spain in 2018, and received the Codespa Journalism for Development award 2022.

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