State control in the age of digital disruption – Radio remains the dominant medium in Zimbabwe, reaching over 60% of the population. But decades of state control have left the sector struggling with a credibility deficit. New legislation now threatens to extend that grip into the digital age. Jukwa looks at what is shaping, and constraining, Zimbabwe’s radio market.
The state still dominates the airwaves
Zimbabwe operates a three-tier radio system of public, commercial and community stations. In practice, the state’s hand is never far from the dial. The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) runs six stations, four national and two provincial. Its flagship Radio Zimbabwe claims over five million listeners. It broadcasts in Shona and isiNdebele.
According to the 2024 Freedom House country report, commercial radio licences have typically gone to state-controlled companies or individuals connected to ZANU-PF. The two national commercial stations, Star FM and ZiFM Stereo, are nominally private. State-linked media group Zimpapers owns Star FM. AB Communications owns ZiFM. Neither qualifies as independent by any reasonable measure.
As prominent journalist Hopewell Chin’ono has noted, the government controls all radio stations in Zimbabwe, “both directly and indirectly”. There are no genuinely independent voices on the Zimbabwean dial.
Independent commercial radio: locked out by law
This is not an accident. The architects of the Broadcasting Services Act of 2001 drafted it to make independent commercial radio virtually impossible. The barriers are structural, layered, and deliberate.
Section 8 of the Act requires that the authorities issue broadcasting licences only to Zimbabwean citizens or to companies wholly controlled by Zimbabwean citizens. Until 2025, the law prohibited foreign ownership of any kind. The 2025 Amendment relaxes this to 40%, but that change is recent and untested. Section 8(6)(a) still bans foreign donations or contributions towards any broadcasting service. In a capital-intensive industry, that alone shuts the door.
Section 9 originally restricted national free-to-air commercial radio to just one additional licence beyond ZBC. Section 22 requires all directors of any licensee to hold Zimbabwean citizenship. And the Minister retains absolute discretionary power over the granting of licences. BAZ does not decide who gets a licence. It merely advises the Minister, who can overrule it.
The regulator that regulates nothing
As legal analyst Tawanda Hondora concluded, the cumulative effect of these powers does not discourage investment in broadcasting. It prevents it. Licence conditions make the economics unworkable unless the investor has government connections. The ZBC monopoly survives, in his words, “subtly, albeit ridiculously so”.
When asked directly whether the 2025 Amendment Bill would transform BAZ into a genuinely independent regulator, Deputy Minister Paradza was remarkably candid. He stated that BAZ was “wholly owned by the government” and that “the security arm of the government had vested interest in its operations”. So much for independent regulation.
The result is a commercial radio sector where every licence holder is either state-owned or politically connected. That is not a market failure. It is the intended outcome of a law designed to keep the airwaves under government control.
Community radio: licensed, but trapped by design
The Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) began licensing community radio stations in 2020. Fourteen are now licensed across the country. Avuxeni FM in Chiredzi was among the first to go on air in 2022. These stations broadcast in local languages and serve communities in areas like Chimanimani, Chipinge and Matobo. Three of Zimbabwe’s ten provinces still have no licensed station.
The real story, though, is how these stations survive. Until recently, the law prohibited community broadcasters from running paid advertising. It also banned them from receiving foreign donations or grants. That left them with almost no viable revenue model. MISA Zimbabwe warned that without a sustainable funding framework, stations faced serious viability challenges before they even switched on their transmitters.
Into that gap stepped the government itself. The state offered to fund community stations directly, and the state-owned Herald confirmed that stations would benefit from the Broadcasting Licence Fee and Broadcasting Fund. Critics were quick to point out the conflict of interest. The government already competes through ZBC. Funding community stations with one hand while controlling the regulator with the other does not foster editorial independence.
A small concession, but not enough
In July 2025, IMS reported that ZACRAS had successfully lobbied the government, the Zimbabwe Media Commission and BAZ to allow community stations to run paid advertisements. They now have permission for four minutes of advertising per hour. It is a step forward. But in marginalised rural areas with thin local economies, four minutes of ad time will not keep the lights on.
The Al Jazeera Media Institute has noted that roughly half the licensed community stations are under quasi-governmental or ruling party structures. The pattern is clear. Deny independent revenue, offer state funding with strings attached, then ensure friendly operators hold the licences. Community radio in Zimbabwe risks becoming community radio in name only.
New legislation extends regulation to the digital space
The Broadcasting Services Amendment Act, gazetted in May 2025, is the most significant overhaul of Zimbabwe’s broadcasting law since 2001. It formally brings internet-based broadcasting within BAZ’s regulatory scope. That includes podcasts, streaming platforms and social media live streams.
While proponents argue this modernises the framework for a digital age, critics point to serious concerns. The Act’s definition of “internet-based broadcasting” is broad enough to catch citizen journalists, bloggers and individual content creators.
Power cuts threaten the basics
None of this plays out in isolation from Zimbabwe’s crippling electricity crisis. An Afrobarometer survey published in early 2025 found that only 14% of Zimbabweans enjoy a reliable electricity supply from the national grid. In rural areas, the figure falls to just 4%.
Load shedding of 16 hours a day has become routine in some parts of the country. National demand stands at roughly 4,000 MW against production of just 1,400 MW. For radio stations, particularly fledgling community broadcasters without backup generators or solar installations, this is an existential challenge.
Among the few areas reported to enjoy uninterrupted power are those sharing a grid with VIP residences and broadcasters. That tells you everything about the political economy of who gets to stay on air.
Starlink and the connectivity wildcard
Just as in neighbouring Zambia, Starlink’s arrival in Zimbabwe in September 2024 has shaken up the connectivity picture. Terminals sold out almost immediately. The competitive pressure forced existing ISPs to cut their prices. One report recorded a 500% growth in VSAT subscriptions since launch.
Satellite internet remains too expensive for mass-market radio listening. But it is already transforming how diaspora and urban audiences access Zimbabwean stations online. It is also opening the door for digital-first news outlets and podcasters. They can now reach audiences that state radio cannot, or will not, serve.
The road ahead
Zimbabwe’s radio sector sits at an uncomfortable crossroads. The licensing of community stations and the formal recognition of digital broadcasting represent genuine steps towards a more plural media landscape. But the new legislation hands sweeping powers to a regulator whose independence is widely questioned.
This comes at a time when journalists like Blessed Mhlanga face detention and prosecution for their work. Press freedom groups have criticised the 2025 Media Policy, launched by President Mnangagwa, as a framework for control rather than freedom.
For international organisations and regulators looking at media monitoring in the region, Zimbabwe offers both a cautionary tale and a genuine opportunity. But only if the political will exists to let community voices be heard.
Jukwa’s view
Radio remains Zimbabwe’s most important mass medium. It is resilient, trusted by listeners, and uniquely capable of reaching rural communities in local languages. But its potential is being held back by the same forces that have constrained Zimbabwean media for decades. State control of licensing. Political capture of nominally independent institutions. An infrastructure crisis that makes simply keeping the lights on a daily struggle.
The digital disruption now arriving via satellite and smartphone offers a route around these bottlenecks. But only if the regulatory environment allows it. Zimbabwe’s airwaves deserve better.