CC Image courtesy of ArildV.
StarTimes Media has sunk KSh6.9 million (US$78.8 million) into a project that will see the company establish its Africa Headquarters and Dubbing Centre for Film and Broadcast Television in Kenya by the end of 2015.
The group held its ground breaking ceremony today, with the premises to cover 20,000 ㎡ in Karen, Nairobi, with six units, including StarTimes African Headquarters, StarTimes Kenya offices, a Film and Television Dubbing Center, StarTimes Broadcast Station, Digital TV research and development centre as well as a Training Centre.
Upon completion, this will equally become a complete production centre of clip selecting, dubbing, broadcasting and copyright trading.
During the event, cabinet secretary for sports, arts and culture Dr Hassan Wario congratulated StarTimes Media, noting the government remained committed to progressively easing the way of doing business in the country, which is key to attracting increased foreign direct investment and subsequently improving the lives of Kenyans.
“I wish to commend StarTimes Media for this bold step, it is trend setting seeing that the headquarters will not only house your Africa operations, but also include a production centre that will see the growth of local productions and talents. The government will continue to initiate efforts geared towards ensuring businesses flourish in their operations through such efforts as policy and infrastructure development,” said Dr Wario.
StarTimes group president Mr Pang Xinxing said the decision to set up the African base in the country was advised by the sound investment environment, a strong economy and the government’s commitment towards attracting increased foreign direct investment.
“Since establishing our operations in Kenya, we have found a cordial operating environment that has facilitated the growth of our business. The Kenyan subscribers have equally shown an insatiable appetite for affordable digital television service, this has seen increased uptake of our service which has gone a long way in giving us confidence to set up our Africa operations in the country,” he said.
