The Government, through the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, should support initiatives aimed at digitalizing broadcast media because timely dissemination of information to all national audiences is good for national development. The placement of Muvi-TV content on a licensed satellite channel, MyTV, will help narrow the digital and information divide in the country and this is the only way Zambia can effectively meet most of the Millennium Development Goals.

At the moment, the dissemination of information which includes government programmes is concentrated in Lusaka and a few urban areas where radio and television stations have restricted licenses. What disadvantages rural areas particularly those engaged in agriculture is information asymmetry. This means that traders and other market players in urban areas with easy access to information have an advantage to market information on prices and markets over producers in rural areas and other parts of the country.

The only way we can narrow this gap so that all market players are brought on a similar platform is by allowing broadcast stations to communicate information, including that touching on government policy, to all communities around the country at the same time without restriction. Even the World Bank Vice president to Africa acknowledged last year that agriculture hardly reduced rural poverty because rural farmers had no information about the markets.

I encourage the Minister of Information and Broadcasting Lt General Ronnie Shikapwasha to consult extensively over this matter because time has now come when digitalization of information will defy licensing structures in given countries. Zambians have free access to foreign information by the switch of a button and yet restricted to local information relevant for their business and personal use. I am confident the Minister will support such local initiatives as that of MuviTV by removing any bottlenecks. That way, we can have more and more local content going digital.