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WINDHOEK/LUSAKA. — Namibia will host the 5th Africa and Digitisation Conference and the 25th Anniversary of the Southern Africa Broadcasting Association (SABA), later this month, a SABA official said on Tuesday.

The conference, scheduled for September 25-29 in the Namibian capital Windhoek, will bring together over 150 leaders in broadcasting, satellite services, online distribution channels, telecom operators, and regulators from Africa and beyond, said SABA Secretary General Ellen Nanuses. The theme of the conference will be “Transformational Leadership During a Time of Digital Transition,” Nanuses said.

Nanuses said the first event will start with a two-day forum aimed at reviewing progress made among member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in their digital terrestrial television (DTT) migration, Post-DTT successes and challenges.During the conference, participants will also discuss the evolution of broadcasting and the next business frontier — going mobile.

SABA was founded in 1993, with members coming from 15 member states of the SADC. Its members include public broadcasters, regulators and service providers in media and content development.

Meanwhile, the Zambian government said on Tuesday that it was on course to switch to digital television broadcasting as migration was within schedule. Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services Kampamba Mulenga said the country was on course and progress towards digital television migration was on the schedule.

The first phase of migration from analogue to digital television had been completed with the initial switch expected to be implemented on October 1 covering major cities, Mulenga said at a Southern African Development Community (SADC) Ministers’ Meeting on Communication and Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) in Durban, South Africa. Zambia, she said, is the first country in Africa which successfully acquired over 500 000 decoders in readiness for the switch, adding that it shows the country is ready to step into the digital era.

The government has assigned TopStar, a joint venture agreement between state broadcaster the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation and Chinese satellite television provider StarTimes, which has cut the prices of its decoders by half to enable people to afford to them. — Xinhua.