Related Articles
Top Stories
May 25 2012 19:13
Uncertainty over the future of the euro zone returned to push the rand down against the dollar.
May 25 2012 13:58
The costs of the first phase of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project have increased significantly to almost R90bn, according to a report.
May 25 2012 11:36
The JSE has identified and stopped "incorrect" trades from one of its members, and will reverse the trades and lower the session's total value after the close.
Johannesburg - The head of Naspers' African pay-TV network sees subscribers on the continent more than doubling in the next five years and believes oil-rich nations Nigeria and Angola will be the catalysts for growth.
South Africa's biggest media firm dominates the market for pay-TV services in Africa but faces competition in its home market as the regulator prepares to licence competitors, which could include fixed-line phone operator Telkom and state broadcaster SABC.
Eben Greyling, chief executive officer of MultiChoice Africa, told Reuters in an interview on Thursday that encouraging economic growth in many of the 47 African countries where it operates and better governance had led to increased foreign investment and infrastructure growth.
"Long term, I can't see why we could not double our subscriber base in five years," he said.
Naspers' Multichoice operations contribute more than half of revenues.
The group has just over 1.4 million subscribers in South Africa and 500 000 in other parts of sub-Saharan Africa.
Greyling said MultiChoice Africa has been operating in Nigeria, the continent's most populous country, for over 12 years and that in the past two to three years subscribers had grown by 20 000 a year.
"If you look at the Nigerian business, it took a while to turn around and become profitable and in the last two to three years it has," Greyling said.
"There is still room for growth," he added.
Greyling said that last week the group introduced mobile TV in partnership with South Africa's mobile operator MTN in Nigeria.
MTN is the biggest mobile operator in Nigeria.
"It is just another opportunity for us to grow our business," he said.
MultiChoice has been in Angola over the past ten years, with the unit stepping up operations in the last 3 years.
Angola, the biggest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa after Nigeria, is enjoying one of the highest economic growth rates in the world after a 27-year civil war that ended in 2002.
"Over the past three years, we have seen an average increase of 30 000 subscribers annually," Greyling said.
- Reuters
- Fin24 is a business division of 24.com, which is part of the Naspers group of companies.