Investing in Africa to tell Africa’s stories: MultiChoice celebrates Africa Day

It’s been 55 years since 32 African countries first met in Addis Ababa to form the Organisation of Africa Unity (OAU) a body established to promote solidarity between African nations at a time of increasing continental liberation. This pivotal moment in history heralded change in Africa, redefining African collaboration, support and unity in the continent’s quest for independence.
On Friday 25 May 2018, the world will mark this historic occasion as it commemorates Africa Day. As a truly African company rooted in the soil of African communities, comprising employees drawn from these communities and showcasing content that tells the stories of these communities, MultiChoice Africa will proudly commemorate Africa Day.
In many ways, MultiChoice Africa’s philosophies reflect the founding principles of Africa Day, from cultivating unity to forging a brighter future. At its heart, the company uses entertainment to enrich African lives by telling the continent’s stories; stories that open people’s minds, unite communities and connect Africans to new realities.
MultiChoice Africa is undeniably one of Africa’s greatest media success stories, with a footprint spanning 49 countries across Sub-Saharan Africa and a growing continental customer base.  In Sub-Saharan Africa alone, MultiChoice Africa provides great television to millions of homes across the continent through their quality GOtv and DStv services.
The company has always maintained that by creating value for customers, employees and society, and will continue to innovate to build a successful business for the future. This sentiment is evident in its significant support for local communities through creating vital employment opportunities at both its offices and small enterprises focusing on satellite technology installation and repairs. Rooted in the countries where its customers live and managed by local people, MultiChoice Ghana currently employs over 2750 employees across the continent and supports more than 2500 agencies and installers.
In its pursuit to become the best African storyteller in the world, telling the right story at the right time to the right person, MultiChoice Africa has also invested heavily in African content produced in these local communities. This has included upskilling technical talent through training, supporting emerging film producers and directors, and broadcasting locally-produced shows, all in its drive to ignite Africa’s creative industries, transforming them into vibrant, economic powerhouses.
MultiChoice Africa produces more than 16 local content channels across the continent showcasing local storytellers and created the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards to further celebrate African film making.
Cecil Sunkwa Mills, General Manager of MultiChoice Ghana, says the business has significantly augmented its position within African communities in recent years, allocating increasing resources to employment, opportunities for SMMEs, local content, and corporate social investment projects, including the 130 MultiChoice Resource Centres that provide schools with free access to DStv’s education channels.
“We don’t believe we are a company established within these communities, we believe we are a company born out of them. Rooted in the countries where we operate, our Ghana operations employ 155 people supported by more than seventy locally run agencies and four hundred plus installation businesses, and are continually creating further opportunities for small enterprises through new customer-oriented innovations,” Sunkwa Mills explains. More than just statistics, these figures serve as business proof points of how MultiChoice is tangibly enriching lives in Ghana.
MultiChoice Africa aims to not only use entertainment as a powerful driver of change in local communities, but also as a means to tell more local stories, documenting African history and providing a platform for Africans to share African stories.
The rapid advances in digital technology in Africa are creating new opportunities to innovate in how this content will be delivered. With its investment in and commitment to the future of Africa, MultiChoice recognises its collective responsibility to play an active role in ensuring Africa benefits from these opportunities. To this end it continues to invest in digital technology to make entertainment more accessible to Africans anywhere, anytime.
While it’s not clear what the future holds for media businesses, what is certain is that people today consume more news and entertainment than ever before. This trend is set to continue, highlighting the importance of relevant and resonant content.
As a content and technology innovator, MultiChoice is perfectly placed to take advantage of digital advances to tell stories that educate and inform African audiences as well as taking Africa’s stories to the world. That is certainly worth celebrating this Africa Day.