Multi-billionaire and Microsoft founder Bill Gates has named South Africa's Rhythm City as his favourite soap opera.
The e.tv drama comes in at number 5 in a blog post by Gates titled Five Reasons I'm Hopeful About Africa.
Under the heading My Favourite Soap Opera, Gates explains why he loves the soapie saying that "the show it really brings home how far South Africa has come since the end of apartheid".
Gates says: "When I was in South Africa last year for the International AIDS Conference, I caught a fascinating TV show one night. The show is called 'Rhythm City' and it’s the most popular soap opera in South Africa.
"The show, which has characters speaking in the four main languages of South Africa (Xhosa, Zulu, English, and Afrikaans), revolves around people trying to break into the music industry.
"Some of the storylines are a bit out there (it is a soap opera, after all), but when you see the show it really brings home how far South Africa has come since the end of apartheid.
"You take a step into the lives of everyday South Africans who are dealing with the relationship and business issues you’d see anywhere in the world. As the continent continues to develop and thrive, I predict we’ll see many other shows like this in other countries."
Last year Gates delivered the keynote address at the 14th Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture Series in Pretoria and spoke at the International HIV/Aids conference in Durban.
Last year the philanthropist pledged to donate another $5 billion (R72.8bn) to Africa in the next five years with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation reportedly having already invested more than $9 billion in Africa.
See the blog post here