Télé Africa is a

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

ese private television channel. A generalist channel aiming a wide audience, it airs a varied schedule with news, current affairs programs and entertainment. It is the oldest private station in French-speaking Africa.

History

Télé Africa was the first private television station to start operations in Gabon, in 1988, breaking a 25-year monopoly pertaining to

Radio Télévision Gabonaise Radio Télévision Gabonaise (RTG) is the national broadcaster of the Central African state of Gabon. Radio Télévision Gabonaise is headquartered in Gabon's capital city, Libreville. It was established in 28 November 1959 with the start of Rad ...

. The launch was on March 10, 1988, during the height of single-party rule, with its inauguration featuring then-president

Ali Bongo Ali Bongo Ondimba (born Alain-Bernard Bongo; 9 February 1959) also known as Ali Ben Bongo is a Gabonese former politician and dictator who was the third president of Gabon from 2009 until he was deposed in a 2023 Gabonese coup d'état, coup in 2 ...

. With its coverage limited to Libreville, it was initially a

subscription television Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, b ...

station, similar to

Canal+ Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, with the majority of the channel's schedule consisting of newly-released feature films (the majority of which were American). Ahead of the 1993 presidential elections, Télé Africa changed to a free-to-air television channel, extending its coverage area to other provinces. In 1998, the channel, owned by TVsat, was made encrypted again. Since 2007, the channel has been facing management difficulties which led to constant strikes, interrupting programming for weeks or even months. The latest strike was announced in April 2021 after Steeve Chasa Ondo, alias "Sinsho", deposited a strike warning on March 11. Another executive, Regis Massimba, named director of programming in February, wanted to make the channel's programs, up until then "undigested", more attractive and dynamic.

References

Television channels and stations established in 1988 Television stations in Gabon Libreville French-language television stations 1988 establishments in Gabon {{Africa-tv-stub