Burundi

Burundi’s state media landscape is monolithic. Every state media outlet identified in this dataset is classified as State-Controlled (SC), with no public-service or hybrid models in operation. The four outlets profiled, RTNB, ABP, PPB and Radio Scolaire Nderagakura, collectively cover broadcasting, news-agency services, print publishing and educational radio. Three operate under the Ministry of Communication and Media; the fourth sits under the Ministry of National Education and Scientific Research, but with the same structural features: presidential-decree appointment of leadership, predominantly state funding, and no statutory protection of editorial independence.

The 2024–2026 period has been institutionally consequential without altering this picture. Law No. 21 of 12 July 2024 partially decriminalised press offences and recognised online press and community radio for the first time, but preserved vague offence categories that continue to constrain independent journalism. The June 2025 legislative and local elections, won by the ruling CNDD-FDD with 96.5% of the vote, were covered by a state-coordinated media coalition reportedly funded by the Ministry of Communication, a configuration in which all four state outlets played central roles. The August 2025 cabinet reshuffle reduced the number of ministries from 15 to 13 and brought a former RTNB journalist, Gabby Bugaga, into the Communication and Media portfolio. On 14 February 2026, President Évariste Ndayishimiye assumed the rotating chairmanship of the African Union, providing state media with elevated continental visibility while reinforcing their role as the official voice of state diplomacy.

Reporters Without Borders ranked Burundi 125 out of 180 in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, a fall of 17 places that returned the country to a “very serious” press freedom situation. The independent press operating from inside the country is reduced to a small number of outlets including Iwacu, while exile media, SOS Médias Burundi, Yaga Burundi (suspended in March 2025 and reinstated the following month), continue to provide an alternative information space that the state cannot fully reach but actively seeks to delegitimise.

Media Profiles