To internationalise Egyptian media and foster cultural connections, Egypt’s National Media Authority has unveiled plans to produce new television programs in 23 languages, marking a significant initiative within the Arab world.
Ahmed El-Muslimani, the President of the National Media Authority, stated that the initial batch of programs has already been completed in various African languages, including Swahili, Amharic, and Fula. At the same time, work continues producing content in the remaining languages.
This significant expansion is part of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi’s vision to promote Egyptian ideas globally and reinforce the nation’s cultural and media influence across Africa and beyond.
The inaugural episode of the international service features a distinctive Swahili-language presentation highlighting the National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation in Cairo, with Shafie Mbenda serving as the host from Egypt’s Foreign Broadcast Service.
The international programming is categorised by regional tracks, with African languages collectively labelled under “Egypt–Africa.”
El-Muslimani indicated that the new content will utilise a diverse range of languages, including Swahili, Amharic, Afar, Somali, Hausa, Fula, English, French, Italian, Albanian, German, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, Hebrew, Indonesian, Turkish, Persian, Pashto, Dari, Urdu, and Uzbek.
The first Swahili episode will air next week on Egypt’s Channel One, complete with Arabic subtitles. The Nile TV channel will also broadcast the same content with English and French subtitles to ensure accessibility for a broader international audience.
