Tag Archives: Africa

The Conversation: “100 Years of Radio in Africa: from propaganda to people’s power”

Radio Taboo in Cameroon

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Marty, who shares the following article from The Conversation:

100 years of radio in Africa: from propaganda to people’s power (The Conversation)

Radio is thriving across Africa. Exact figures are difficult to come by because audience research differs across countries. But studies estimate radio listenership to be between 60% and 80% of the continent’s 1.4 billion population.

In contrast to many western countries, where there has been a shift towards streaming and podcasts, traditional radio continues to be widely embraced in Africa. Because of poor literacy levels and uneven access to the internet and technological infrastructure, old-fashioned radio remains a reliable and inclusive medium.

This year’s celebration of the 100-plus years of radio offers us an opportunity, as African media scholars, to reflect on the historical significance, cultural relevance, political power and social impact of the medium on the continent. We home in on examples from the regions we’ve studied to demonstrate this rich history.

Early years

The story of radio in Africa starts with its introduction to serve colonial interests. Cameroonian scholar Francis Nyamnjoh argues that as soon as it had established itself as a mass medium in the 1920s,

European states were quick to realise the part radio could play in realising their desire to swallow up weaker cultures around the globe.

Historians note that it also allowed Europeans in the colonies to connect to home, their culture and their languages.

In the early 1920s amateur radio enthusiasts had already begun tinkering with the technology. The first official broadcast seems to have been on 18 December 1923 in Johannesburg, South Africa. [Continue reading at The Conversation…]

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Guest Post: Shortwave Recordings from Mount Kilimanjaro

Mount Kilimanjaro (Photo: Chris Johnson)

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Chris Johnson, for sharing the following guest post:


Shortwave Recordings from Kilimanjaro

by Chris Johnson

Last month, I took a trip of a lifetime to Tanzania Africa to Climb Mount Kilimanjaro: Africa’s highest point and the world’s highest free standing mountain. It is also known as the “Rooftop of Africa” its summit stands at 19,341 feet or 5895 meters.

With this high elevation I figured that I could pick up a multitude of shortwave signals that I would normally not receive at lower altitudes. So I packed my Sony ICF- SW7600G to capture recordings of various signals, some common, others not so common.

Each night I unpacked my radio and extended the reel-wire antenna and scanned the bands. I came across an assortment of stations that I normally do not hear back home in the USA, but some were quite familiar such as the BBC, Radio Romania, and DW which had Africa as their target. In some cases their broadcast was targeted for Asia.

Below is a map of our trek along the Lemosho route and the camps where we stayed are listed with the recordings and the elevation (in meters) of each camp. The higher we climbed, the signals received were sometimes stronger but the surrounding mountains also limited the reception of others. I did find that the bands were congested with signals from stations that spoke Arabic, Swahili and Chinese, not surprising considering my location. For the purpose of this blog I only included the English speaking stations except for a few.

Unfortunately, the critical weight in our day packs was closely monitored and we could carry only the essentials on our climb from Barafu to the summit so I could not record at the summit of Uhuru Peak. Additionally, our time up there was limited to 15 minutes due to the lack of oxygen at that altitude. Below are selected recordings at each of the camps on the Lemosho route. Enjoy.

Click to enlarge

Mkubwa Camp Elevation 2650 meters 8 January 2017

Mkubwa Camp Elevation 2650 Meters BBC 7445 khz 1840Z 8 January 2017:

Shira Camp II Elevation 3850 meters 9 January 2017

Shira Camp II Elevation 3850 Meters SW Africa Radio League 4895 Khz 9 January 2017 1645z:

Shira Camp II Elevation 3850 Meters DW 9820 KHZ 1600z 9 January 2017:

Shira Camp II Elevation 3850 Meters 1 9 2017 1538z Channel Africa 9625 kHz:

Shira Camp II Elevation 3850 Meters All India Radio 13695 khz 1835z 9 January 2017:

Baranco Camp Elevation 3900 meters 10 January 2017

Baranco Camp NBC Zambia Radio 11 January 2017 5915 KHZ 0317z:

Baranco Camp 3900 Meters Voice Of Nigeria 7255 Khz 1 10 2017 1915z:

Karanga Camp Elevation 3995 meters 11 January 2017

Karanga Camp Elevation 3995 Meters All India Radio 13695 Khz 11 January 2017 1753 Z:

Karanga Camp 3995 Meters Voice Of Nigeria 7255 Khz 1812 GMT 11 January 2017:

Karanga Camp 3995 Meters Channel Africa 9625 Khz 11 January 2017 1735z:

Barafu Camp Elevation 4673 meters 12 January 2017

Barafu Camp 4673 Meters BBC Asia Target 7465 Khz 1429z:

Barafu Camp 4673 Meters All India Radio 13695 Khz 1 12 2017 1044 Z:

Barafu Camp 4673 Meters Radio Romania 15150 Khz 1210 Z:


Chris: thank you so much for taking the time to write up this guest post and share your excellent recordings and photos. Amazing!

Post readers: I don’t know about you, but I’m inspired and ready to pack my bags and do some shortwave travel!

Click here to check out other posts by Chris.

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Shortwave Radio Recordings: Radio Biafra

RadioBiafraLast week, I received a tip from SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson: Radio Biafra, a new clandestine station, was audible on 15,560 kHz via the Universite Twente Web SDR.

Despite miserable propagation conditions, I tuned my receiver to 15,560 kHz and was surprised to hear a weak signal from Radio Biafra, here in North Carolina. I recorded a few minutes before conditions changed and Biafra’s signal began to fade.

This was the first time I had logged Radio Biafra, so I was amazed to have copy clear enough to understand.

Wikipedia has a short entry for Radio Biafra:

Radio Biafra also known as Voice of Biafra, is a radio station that was originally founded by the government of the Republic of Biafra but is currently operated by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. Believed to have had its first transmission before the Nigeria-Biafra war, the radio station was instrumental in the broadcast of speeches and propaganda by Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu to the people of the Republic of Biafra.

[…]Radio Biafra currently transmits via the internet and shortwave broadcast targeted majorly around Eastern Nigeria. Radio Biafra claims to be broadcasting the ideology of Biafra –”Freedom of the Biafra people”.

[…]Radio Biafra has been met with mixed reactions. While some critics have criticized the station for “inciting war” through its programmes and “preaching hate messages” against Nigeria which it refers to as a “zoo”, an editor for Sahara Reporters wrote in defence of the radio station after he compared Radio Biafra with the British Broadcasting Corporation Hausa service.

On 14 July 2015, it was reported in the media that the radio station had been jammed because it did not have a broadcast license from the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission. However, the radio station in a swift reaction labelled such claims as “lies” and went on to release its new frequency details to the public.

To put this in perspective, the Wikipedia entry for Radio Biafra is rather new, having only been created in August, 2015.

The following recording was made using my WinRadio Excalibur hooked up to a large skyloop antenna:

This two hour recording, by Dan Robinson, was made via the Universite Twente Web SDR in the Netherlands:

Post Readers: Have you logged Radio Biafra in your part of the world?

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Shortwave Radio Recordings: Channel Africa

SABCDespite dismal propagation, I was quite happy to receive a relatively strong signal earlier this week (31 August 2015) from Channel Africa, starting around 16:40 UTC on 15,235 kHz.

This recording begins with the French language service (already in progress), followed by the English language service. Receiver used was a WinRadio Excalibur connected to a large horizontal delta loop antenna.

Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

Remember: this, along with many more recordings, are available in podcast form via the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive. Click here to view on iTunes.

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A map of every device connected to the Internet

(Source: John Matherly, via Gizmodo)

(Source: John Matherly, via Gizmodo)

SWLing Post reader, Mehmet Burk, shares this tweet from Sherry Rehman:

Many thanks, Mehmet!

Though this map may not be completely accurate since IP addresses in IPv4 can have thousands of devices behind a single IP, I believe it is a solid reflection on where the Internet is(n’t). Note that Africa is still very much in the information dark; shortwave and FM radio fills this void 24/7 in many rural communities.

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Shortwave Radio Recordings: Radio Impala (Rwanda)

RadioImpalaYesterday, while recording the BBC coverage of Portugal v. Ghana in the World Cup, I noticed a relatively strong carrier on 17,540 kHz. A quick check of schedules and I realized this was the Rwandan based station, Radio Impala–a new catch for me.

Radio Impala is clear about their humanitarian mission of peace, friendship, human rights and equality in their station id. I’ve made a short audio clip with their English language ID below:

Radio Impala broadcasts music and commentary daily from 17:00 – 18:00 UTC (7:00 – 8:00 PM Rwanda time) on 17,540 kHz out of the Talata-Volondry, Madagascar transmitter site.

I was able to record almost 45 minutes of the show before the signal began to fade. Click here to download the recording, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

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Myke shares 2012 season of ShortWaveMusic

swm_tkuMyke, over at ShortWaveMusic, has made his entire 2012 season of ShortWaveMusic freely downloadable on SoundCloud.

This series was recorded from December 31, 2011 – January 16, 2012 throughout the West African country of Mali. The series contains some remarkable field recordings taken from both the shortwave and medium wave bands.

Note that Myke’s ShortWaveMusic series and travels are supported by Kickstarter donors. I don’t know where Myke’s travels will take him next year, but when the time comes we will post an announcement along with a link for supporters.

Now put on your headphones, close your eyes and you will be transported to Mali:

For full SoundCloud features, click here for the 2012 series on SoundCloud.

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