Arabic news channel Al Jazeera and free-to-air Hausa-language satellite channel Arewa24 have partnered to dub documentaries and series into Hausa for the more than 40 million viewers in northern Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon and the Sahel.

Through the deal, Al Jazeera’s English-language programmes will be available via Arewa24’s satellite channel, the region’s major pay TV services, including DStv, StarTimes, Canal+ and TSTV, and Arewa24’s global streaming service Arewa24 On Demand.

Ramzan Alnoimi, Al Jazeera’s acting executive director of global brand and communication, said: “We are very pleased with this agreement as it makes Al Jazeera English’s content available to new audiences in a large part of Africa in their own language. We are looking forward to expanding the distribution of Al Jazeera content dubbed in other languages in the future.”

Jacob Arback, CEO of Arewa24, said the Al Jazeera brand and its outstanding programming would be very well received by Arewa24’s Northern Nigerian and West African audiences.

“We couldn’t be more excited about this new partnership and about being the first television network to broadcast Al Jazeera’s high-quality programmes in Hausa, a language spoken by over 90 million people in Nigeria and West Africa,” he said.

Nigeria is one of Al Jazeera’s key markets in Africa. The agreement allows Al Jazeera-produced content to be dubbed into Hausa and made available to a much wider and more diverse audience in the region.

tagged in: Al Jazeera, Arewa24