\u201cTogether they are spending an estimated \u00a36-8bn on expanding their global media activities \u2013 investing hard to grow their audiences in key markets in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America,\u201d he will say.<\/p>\n

\u201cAcross Africa in particular, Russian media is incredibly active in promoting its narratives, with social media influencers amplifying propaganda and so-called \u2018activists\u2019 live-streaming pro-Russia rallies.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd this investment is seeing significant returns, not only in terms of the reach of Russian state broadcaster RT and China\u2019s CGTN, but also in terms of trust.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his speech, Davie will discuss how other companies have filled the \u201cgaps\u201d the BBC left in Africa after its \u201cretreat\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cKenya\u2019s state broadcaster KBC has taken up Chinese output on TV and radio, as has Liberia\u2019s state broadcaster LBS,\u201d he will say. \u201cMeanwhile, in Lebanon, Russian-backed media is now transmitting on the radio frequency previously occupied by BBC Arabic.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast month, our outstanding BBC Monitoring teams listened in to that Russian output on the day thousands of pagers and radio devices exploded. What they heard was unchallenged propaganda and narratives being delivered to local communities.<\/p>\n