New satellite for Africa.

African and Middle Eastern countries will soon be able to receive and transmit critical information in a fast-changing world. Washington, D.C.-based AfriSpace Inc. has obtained a license to construct a satellite system to beam radio programming directly to home receivers. The project, which is backed by several U.S. agencies and the governments of many African countries, is expected to reach 100 million to 150 million households in 60 countries throughout Africa and the Middle East once it begins operation in 1993.

"The social impact of this technology is tremendous," says native Noah Samara, president and CEO of AfriSpace and its parent company WorldSpace Inc. WorldSpace is a black-owned, Washington, D.C.-based corporation that represents a consortium of international satellite experts. In addition to AfriSpace, its subsidiaries include AmeriSpace, AsiaSpace and CaribeSpace. "We're debuting this technology in under-served parts of the world to semi-global audiences," says Samara.

A $40 million AfriStar 1 satellite will beam signals to special hand-held radios that AfriSpace will begin marketing in 1993. Samara says the satellite system will provide 36 radio channels for lease to government and private broadcasters, which could net the company $60 million to $90 million in initial contracts.

Since September 1991, several deals have been struck. Turner Program Services International has secured a broadcast channel to beam CNN Radio (excerpts from the Atlanta-based Cable News Network [CNN]) into Africa. A $5 million agreement with the Kenya TV Network was reached to reserve a channel to broadcast Swahili cultural programming to East Africa. The London-based Art-Anadolu Radio Television Corp. (ART) also signed a $5 million agreement to reserve a channel to broadcast Turkish language programming to the Middle East and North Africa. Several channels will also be given to the World Health Organization to relay health-related information.

"AfriSpace is trying to bring broadcasting information to African countries that essentially are not covered by any broadcasting system at all," says H. Franklin Wright, chief of the Frequency Liaison Branch of the Federal Communications Commission. "We've authorized an experiment... It's never been done before, so we have no idea whether it will work."

Many observers are hopeful. "We see this as the future of broadcasting in the region," says ART President Aslan Aganoglu. Indeed. Samara says the 2-year-old firm is working hard to secure satellite licensing agreements for its other subsidiaries.