VOA Launches New FM Station in Rwanda

Voice of America launched its second FM radio station in Rwanda on March 28. Broadcasting to Karongi, a district of more than 375,000 people, the new station (93.3 FM) also serves the large refugee camp in Kiziba. VOA has successfully served audiences from an FM radio station (104.3 FM) in Rwanda’s capital of Kigali since 2004.

The new station will offer a mix of programming that caters to the many ethnic groups in Rwanda, offering translations in Kirundi, French, Swahili, and English as well as the Kinyarwanda language, which is spoken by the majority of Rwanda’s population.

“We are pleased to begin broadcasting directly to the Karongi district of Rwanda,” said VOA Acting Director John Lippman. “Our new radio station will expand our efforts to provide independent journalism and diverse perspectives, in many languages, to a fast-growing country.”

VOA operates more than 50 FM stations throughout Africa, Asia and Europe. The U.S. broadcaster reaches a weekly global audience of more than 354 million people in 48 languages in nearly 100 countries via radio, television, web and mobile media and a network of more than 3,500 affiliates worldwide.

[Source: VOA press release]