Morocco moves toward joining TV5MONDE governance

Morocco has formally expressed interest in joining the governance structure of TV5MONDE, becoming the first African country to begin the process of entering the decision making framework of the French language global broadcaster.

In a letter sent on April 21 to the Swiss government, which currently chairs TV5MONDE’s funding states, Moroccan Youth, Culture and Communication Minister Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid confirmed Rabat’s interest in joining the partnership and pledged adherence to the network’s governance and editorial independence standards.

Founded in 1984, TV5MONDE broadcasts across nearly 200 countries and territories and operates as one of the main audiovisual institutions linked to the Francophonie. Its governance is currently overseen by six funding governments: France, Switzerland, Canada, Quebec, the Wallonia Brussels Federation and Monaco.

Joining the governance structure would give Morocco a role in the institutional and strategic oversight of the network, including participation in discussions related to programming direction, cooperation projects and the broadcaster’s broader development as a Francophone media platform.

The move follows an initiative launched in 2025 by the network’s funding members to open participation to additional African states belonging to the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie.

Under the process, Moroccan officials will now begin technical discussions with existing member states over the practical and legal conditions of accession.

TV5MONDE also said it would expand cooperation with Morocco’s Société Nationale de Radiodiffusion et de Télévision, led by Faïçal Laraïchi, through coproductions and content sharing across the network’s television channels and streaming platform TV5MONDE+.

The accession framework requires candidate states to commit to the network’s editorial independence charter and standards related to pluralism, transparency and journalistic integrity.