MultiChoice invests in Ethiopia

Pay TV company MultiChoice Group is set to expand its investment and support the production of local content in Ethiopia.

The investment is part of MultiChoice’s hyper-local content strategy to continue its investment in local content production and aggregation. Ethiopia is recognised as having huge growth potential with its large population (second only to Nigeria in Africa), impressive GDP growth and its largely untapped potential within the ICT sector.

Calvo Mawela, CEO of MultiChoice Group, said: “Our commitment to Ethiopia can be seen throughout our tenure. Unlike many other businesses, we remained in the country since we launched our local operation nearly 30 years ago. We have built a truly Ethiopian business which has delivered solid results for us over the years. The strong foundation we have established through our local business, knowledge and expertise, positions us with a distinct advantage as we seek to unlock opportunities presenting themselves.

“Ethiopia is open for business and has demonstrated its commitment to supporting businesses around the world. We will continue to demonstrate our commitment to Ethiopia through the development of local skills and industries, and through exciting plans for content that speaks to Ethiopians in their own voice.”

The company recently launched an Ethiopian channel, Zee Alem, on its DStv platform, invested in dubbing international content in Amharic as well as conducted training for SuperSport commentators in vernacular for local sports broadcasts.

“By continuing to invest in our local markets we intend to create lasting value for the local creative industry, with benefits including improved quality in the industry arising from training in our stringent technical standards; opportunities for local content creators; distribution of content in local languages; promotion of local talent who are able to build their individual brands; on-the-job learning for those involved in productions; and new content which we can license to other channels.

“In the aftermath of Covid-19, our commitment to the long term, and to creating local value chains and local content, is more important than ever. Multichoice is a business born and bred in Africa, and we are proud to reinvest in the continent for lasting socio-economic impact.”

MultiChoice has access to 19.5 million households across the continent with a library of more than 56,000 hours of local content in 17 languages for distribution via 33 proprietary entertainment channels in 50 countries.

In 2013, local content spending as a percentage of total general entertainment content spend was 30%. In 2020, it was 40% and is set to reach 45% by 2022.

tagged in: Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice