$3bn DStv Sale Reshapes Africa’s Media Landscape Amid Xenophobia Row

By Sam Agogo

For almost three decades, the DStv satellite dish symbolised South Africa’s dominance in Africa’s pay television industry. That era has now ended. After a three-year acquisition process, French media giant Canal+ has completed its takeover of MultiChoice, assuming full ownership of DStv, GOtv and Showmax and bringing one of Africa’s biggest media companies under its global network spanning more than 70 countries.
The acquisition was concluded on July 10 in a deal worth approximately R55 billion, or about $3 billion. MultiChoice has since been delisted from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, with shareholders receiving R125 per share. Canal+ has announced plans to relist the company on the JSE in September, maintaining a South African market presence even though control has shifted to the French media conglomerate.
The takeover was the culmination of a carefully executed strategy. Canal+ gradually increased its stake in MultiChoice over several years before crossing South Africa’s ownership threshold in 2024 and eventually acquiring the remaining shares. It inherited a company that had suffered significant financial and subscriber losses.
Over the past two financial years, MultiChoice lost nearly 2.8 million subscribers, including 1.2 million in 2025 alone, representing an eight percent decline and reducing its active customer base to 14.5 million. Nigeria accounted for the largest share of those losses, with 1.4 million subscribers leaving between 2023 and 2025—about 77 percent of all subscriber losses recorded across the company’s Rest of Africa operations.
Economic hardship played a major role in the decline. Inflation above 30 percent, persistent electricity shortages, rising fuel costs and three subscription price increases within two years forced many Nigerian households to cancel their subscriptions. Kenya experienced a similar downturn, with active subscribers falling from 1.19 million in mid-2024 to about 248,000 two years later. At the same time, streaming platforms such as Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video continued attracting viewers, while advertisers increasingly shifted their spending to digital platforms. Faced with these realities, MultiChoice found its lifeline in Canal+.
For Canal+, however, the acquisition represented more than rescuing a struggling broadcaster. It provided immediate access to over 50 African markets, an extensive distribution network and millions of long-standing subscribers. The combined company now serves more than 40 million subscribers and generates nearly €8.7 billion in annual revenue, making it one of the world’s largest pay television operators outside the United States.
Canal+ has sought to reassure subscribers by promising to maintain current pricing through 2026, continue investing in African sports broadcasting and expand local content production. While the company insists little will change for customers, the ownership structure behind Africa’s leading pay television service has fundamentally shifted.
The timing of the acquisition coincided with renewed diplomatic tensions between Nigeria and South Africa following another wave of xenophobic violence. While the acquisition was being finalised, attacks targeting undocumented foreign nationals spread across parts of South Africa after vigilante groups issued a June 30 deadline for foreigners to leave the country. Following the expiration of the ultimatum, reports of looting, intimidation and killings emerged, affecting Nigerians, Ghanaians and other African nationals.
The Nigerian government strongly condemned the attacks, accusing South African authorities of failing to prevent the violence and reviving long-standing concerns over recurring xenophobic incidents. Previous attacks had already strained economic relations. Following the 2019 violence, Nigerian exports to South Africa declined by 14 percent, while South African investments in Nigeria dropped by eight percent.
As public outrage intensified, attention turned once again to South African businesses operating in Nigeria. DStv and MTN became the primary targets of boycott calls, with groups including the National Association of Nigerian Students urging coordinated action against what they described as persistent hostility toward Nigerians living in South Africa.
The debate also reached the Nigerian Senate, where some lawmakers proposed revoking the operating licences of South African companies or confiscating their profits as compensation for victims of the attacks. However, after debating the issue twice within two months, the Senate opted for diplomatic engagement instead, demanding written assurances from the South African government on the safety of Nigerians, prosecution of those responsible for the attacks and a formal register of Nigerians who suffered losses.
Amid the public anger, one major development received little attention. The DStv many Nigerians have threatened to boycott is no longer effectively South African. Since July, the company has been under the control of Canal+, operating from Paris with listings in London and Johannesburg and chaired by a French executive.
While South Africa still retains the production facilities, satellite infrastructure, subscriber base and local content partnerships, ownership and strategic decision-making now rest with Canal+. Consequently, any future protests directed at DStv offices in Lagos or Abuja may ultimately be aimed at a company whose corporate headquarters are no longer in South Africa but in France.
For comments, reflections and further conversation: samuelagogo4one@yahoo.com | +2348055847364