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Kwesé agrees repayment plan with rights-holders after pay-television flameout

  • Econet closes its African pay-TV platform and agrees repayment schedule with rights-holders
  • Rights-holders affected by closure include the IOC, the NBA, Fifa and Uefa
  • Kwesé failure shows Africa remains tough terrain for pay-TV challengers.
In January 2017, Kwesé TV was a burgeoning multi-platform broadcaster that looked set to challenge SuperSport for sports broadcasting supremacy in sub-Saharan Africa. Less than two years later, Kwesé’s pay-television business is no more.

The company closed its pay-television operation on November 1, abruptly cutting off about 180,000 subscribers across sub-Saharan Africa. Its debts to rights-holders – which had been mounting almost since the business began operating – had become unmanageable.

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