BBC seeks Ethiopia and Eritrea service
- Published
Director general Tony Hall revealed the plans on Monday
The BBC is proposing to introduce a news service for Eritrea and Ethiopia on medium- and short-wave radio.
In addition to Africa, the BBC has proposed expanding services in other countries, like Russia and North Korea.
This is to enhance its coverage of "parts of the world where there is a democratic deficit in impartial news".
BBC Head Tony Hall also suggested increasing digital services to Nigeria, one of the broadcaster's biggest markets in Africa.
The suggestions would need to be approved by the government before the services are launched.
They are part of a green paper set out, external by the BBC as part of its discussions with the government about its future.
The proposals say there is the ambition to be commercially self-sufficient and that the aim would be for any public funding to be matched by external income.
These could include advertising, subscription, syndication deals and funding from other governments.
The government launched a consultation in July on the BBC's Royal Charter, which sets out the purpose of the BBC and how it will be governed, promising to ask "hard questions" about the corporation's size and ambition.