Zimbabwe is gearing up for digital television broadcasting and will license 12 digital broadcasters starting in March this year, government ministers said Tuesday.

Experts say this will open up opportunities for local content producers. Currently, Zimbabwe only has one television channel run by the government.

However, on completion of digitalisation, the Southern African country will have capacity for 12 digital television channels. Half of these will be run by the government through the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), while the remaining six will be licenced to private operators who will have to apply.

Zimpapers, the state-owned newspaper group, is already readying up for broadcasting.

Previous broadcasting licences awarded for radio stations have attracted criticism amid complaints that they were awarded to those linked to the Zanu PF party.

AB Communications, initially owned by ICT Minister and Zanu PF MP for Nyanga, Supa Mandiwanzira, and StarFM (run by Zimpapers) are the two independent radio broadcasters in Zimbabwe.

The issue of local content has also been raised, with officials emphasising the need for more local content production. "If we have no content to show on our television channels, then we may just as well forget about broadcasting. The solution is not to look for content beyond our borders," said Thokozile Mathuthu, Deputy Minister for Media and Broadcasting Services.

The government says it has already purchased production equipment which will be hired out to private producers at no charge to boost local content production. The equipment includes HD cameras and about 20 editing suites, according to officials.