Dubai : Around 24,000 people living in Cameroon and Ghana got to watch 26 World Cup matches live thanks to the ‘Public Viewing in Africa' project, a partnership between Sony Corporation, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) .
While Sony set up large screen visual equipment, including a 200-inch screen projector, Blu-Ray disc player and waterproof speakers, and aired, for free, 26 live matches of the World Cup at locations with limited access to television, UNDP, JICA and local partners offered the viewers HIV and Aids counselling and advocacy materials.
During the screenings, ‘Join the Team!' footballs, made from environmentally conscious and durable material produced by Sony were also distributed.
Further, with the help of NGOs and international organisations such as JICA and UNDP, Sony will be donating 3,372 footballs, which were gathered by people around the world through Sony's Earth F.C. project (www.sony.net/earthfc), to children in Africa.
As part of its efforts to harness sustainable energy sources, Sony also piloted in Ghana a combined solar power and lithium-ion storage battery system, which provided enough electric power to screen more than two hours of football broadcasts for public viewing in the evening.
Despite the widespread popularity of football across the African countries of Cameroon and Ghana, low household TV penetration, at approximately 20 per cent, and the lack of electricity in certain regions prevents many communities from watching their teams on TV.
In Cameroon, UNDP mobilised approximately 5,350 people to five venues in four regions, while in Ghana, JICA brought together 18,650 people at 18 venues across 15 regions.
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