Africa Channel was launched in the USA in September. James Makawa, founder and CEO, said the channel caters for people who already watch shows about Africa on cable channels such as National Geographic, Discovery and the History channel. Makawa, a 45-year-old Santa Monica resident, is a former broadcast journalist whose family left Rhodesia in the 1970s and went into exile in the US. He lived in South Africa for 9 years and began the African Barter Company, which distributed western programming across sub-Saharan Africa. Co-founders Jacob Arback, a former vice president of DirecTV International, and Richard Hammer, a former executive with Columbia Pictures Television, both lived in Africa as their company representatives. Investors include National Basketball Association stars Dikembe Mutombo and and Theo Ratliff.
The Africa Channel broadcasts via digital cable on the Bill Gates-owned Cox Cox Communications Inc. Executives are in talks with extra cable networks and satellite companies to gain broadcast rights in Europe.
The network, with offices in North Hollywood and Johannesburg , re-broadcasts shows written and produced by Africans, such as Carte Blanche Africa, Souh African soap operas Generations and Isidingo: The Need, and Big Brother Africa which features contestants from 12 African countries. News, travel, music and feature films will also be part of the programming on offer.
