On the Same Wavelength
Multilingual Gabonese presenter contributes to China-Africa understanding through Chinese media
The lights are on and the camera is moving around ... In the middle of a studio owned by StarTimes, an international media conglomerate of Chinese origin, Gabonese presenter Bolabola Joëlle Zita is recording a Frenchlanguage programme, Dessus-Dessous, to introduce Chinese TV series, which is highly popular among African viewers.
African audiences like the diversity of the available programmes, and can relate to the family conflicts and the balancing act between work and family portrayed in Chinese series such as A Beautiful Daughter-in-Law Era, which resonate with African reality. The host plays a crucial role in highlighting the similarities and differences between the two cultures to promote mutual understanding between peoples.
Zita arrived in China 16 years ago and never imagined that she would embark on such a media adventure. She is driven by new dynamism and aspirations, and sees her Chinese career as an invaluable opportunity for personal development.
A choice of destiny
As a child, Zita had a rather traditional view of China. She was influenced by her father, a passionate admirer of kungfu films starring Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. In her imagination, the Chinese lived an ancestral way of life in the mountains, collecting water with sticks. However, the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games drastically changed this perception.
Impressed by China’s development, her father encouraged her to continue her studies there to seize the opportunities created by the growing China-Africa cooperation. In the same year, Zita chose China for higher education, instead of France, which was the preferred destination of many of her classmates.
Zita faced many challenges in her academic journey as she struggled to learn Chinese and understand the culture. Although she spent a year learning Chinese at the Beijing Language and Culture University, understanding the accents of her logistics engineering teachers at the University of Science and Technology Beijing was difficult. However, her classmates proved to be a valuable source of support, and assisted with her studies. Their hard work inspired her to work even harder to overcome the difficulties. She is grateful for the friendships she has made and the lessons she has learnt. She keeps in touch with them.
With China’s initiative to equip 10,000 African villages with satellite television undertaken by StarTimes, a growing number of Africans have the opportunity to explore the world from their living rooms.
An extraordinary career
Zita discovered StarTimes in 2010. It was during a visit to Tongzhou District of Beijing with Gobonese authorities. She was intrigued by the company’s digital terrestrial and satellite television services in Africa. In January 2017, she secured a job in the media department as a presenter and dubbing actress after completing an internship in the company’s logistics department. Her proficiency in French, English, and Chinese played a crucial role in her selection.
As a young logistics graduate, she had to start from scratch in the media universe. With no model African trilingual presenter to follow, she set off with determination down this new path, and never looked back. Many people think she knows it all and can do it all, but they don’t see the effort she puts in behind the scenes. To guarantee the quality of her work, she chooses to record in the morning, when she is more energetic and can host up to 10 shows. For the rest of the day, she does research online and prepares her scripts, sometimes working late into the evening. The image of her former classmates who worked hard pushes her to persevere whenever she’s on the verge of giving in to laziness and fatigue.
While some of her African colleagues have given up due to the demanding pace and pressure of the Chinese professional environment, Zita has never shown any sign of detachment. On the contrary, she is grateful for her professional experience at StarTimes. “My time here has greatly enhanced my personal development in terms of human values, such as respect for others, punctuality, and discipline. It has also made me more humble and able to learn from others.”
With China’s initiative to equip 10,000 African villages with satellite television undertaken by StarTimes, a growing number of Africans have the opportunity to explore the world from their living rooms. In fact, in terms of strengthening people-to-people exchanges between China and Africa, StarTimes has made efforts for more than 10 years. Since the official launch of digital TV business in Rwanda in 2008, the company has dubbed and promoted many Chinese film and television dramas on TV platforms, and has also provided African audiences with a glimpse into Chinese society and culture through various self-made programmes. Many of Zita’s cultural programmes are examples of this. Through In Beijing, for example, viewers can follow her to iconic landmarks such as the Temple of Heaven and trendy youth spots like Sanlitun. Zita shares her daily life in China with the African audience, expressing her emotions and highlighting the charm of the Chinese capital. By participating in the filming of this 100-episode programme, she was able to enhance her understanding of China’s cultural heritage.
Programmes presented and dubbed by Zita have reached large audiences in many African countries, including her native Gabon, making her an iconic figure on the continent. She is particularly honoured to inspire women of her generation.
“Some of the girls in my hometown have told me that they too want to pursue careers and personal development like me. I am pleased to share all the information with them,” she told ChinAfrica. “China has given me confidence and courage. These changes are particularly important for girls in our cultural context. I would like to show them that both women and men have an important role to play in society,” she added.
Zita wants to become “a bridge” for bustling ChinaAfrica exchanges in the future. She stressed that there are many similarities between Chinese and African cultures, such as mutual respect, but she admitted that the language barrier remains a major challenge. She sees people like herself, fluent in several languages and cultures, as essential bridges to facilitate intercultural exchanges and minimise misunderstandings. From her point of view, the development of Confucius Institutes in Africa is extremely beneficial, because far from being a tool of colonisation, learning Chinese makes it easier for young Africans to find a job and change their destiny, just as she did.
My time at StarTimes has greatly enhanced my personal development in terms of human values, such as respect for others, punctuality, and discipline. It has also made me more humble and able to learn from others.
BOLABOLA JOËLLE ZITA Gabonese presenter at StarTimes