China hands over $80 million digital TV project to Kenyan government

"The availability of a balanced mix of local and international channels will increase access to information, which will go a long way in bridging the urban-rural digital divide," Mucheru said.

He reiterated the government's continued commitment to supporting and protecting investments in the ICT industry in an effort to ensure that the entire population in the country has access to affordable ICT products and services to enjoy benefits accruing from digitization.

Wu Peng, the Chinese ambassador to Kenya, said implementation of the project is an important part of the China-Africa cultural exchange cooperation program.

"We believe that the implementation of the project will effectively promote cultural exchanges between China and Kenya, greatly enrich daily lives and improve the cultural knowledge of locals," he said.

Wu said China's assistance to Kenya will be closely aligned with the Big Four Agenda, to provide help for job creation and income improvement for local people.

Kenya's handover ceremony comes barely two months after StarTimes handed over the 1,000 digital TV project to the government of Nigeria. A total of 20,000 households benefited from the project.

The Access to Satellite TV for 10,000 African Villages project was announced by President Xi Jinping during the opening ceremony of the 2015 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation as one of the summit resolutions.

It is funded by the South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund, which aims to gather China and international resources to promote South-South cooperation and help developing countries realize the goals set by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.