Why MultiChoice is Dominant
Chairman, MultiChoice Nigeria, Mr. Adewunmi Ogunsanya (SAN), in this interview with Demola Ojo explains why MultiChoice is not a monopoly, but a dominant player and how it has survived the difficult Nigerian business environment for 27 years
You’rea Senior Advocate of Nigeria, evidence of accomplishment in your field, but you’re also known for your association with MultiChoice, which launched in Nigeria over 25 years ago. What exactly informed the vision of bringing MultiChoice to Nigeria?
Twenty-seven years actually. Multichoice has been in Nigeria 27 years. Mine has always been a family of lawyers. My father was a lawyer. Law is my life. MultiChoice is a passion for investment that has gone well and from strength to strength. Again, the circumstances surrounding my initial involvement with MultiChoice had to do with law, as I came into contact with other initial investors in my capacity as a lawyer. But then I also saw the business opportunity that existed and I took it since it did not require my day-to-day involvement. But as my passion for growing things became apparent over the years, so also has my involvement with the company.
We’d like you to take us through the various stages of the company’s evolution from a novelty, which attracted very little attention to the behemoth it has become.
A lot of hard work has gone into what you see today. People forget that bringing a business, any business, into Nigeria was not exactly an inviting thing when MultiChoice came to Nigeria. It was bang in the middle of the military era. It was not exactly a rosy period for the economy. Our journey has been challenging on many fronts. From a small MMDS operation in Lagos and Port-Harcourt, we have grown to a major player today. But then, and now we still are enmeshed in constant regulatory somersaults. We still struggle with piracy, overreaching government regulations and changing subscriber demands.
The pay television sector is a mausoleum of dreams; a sector with a very high mortality rate. How has MultiChoice escaped the fate that regularly befalls operators?
This is true. We have survived because we have kept our eyes on multiple balls. There are many balls to keep the eyes on when it comes to pay TV business. There is that of business and then the need to prioritize quality content for different demographics. In addition, we never forget that ours is a technology business; one that thrives on innovation. We have benefited a great deal from being part of a multinational that pays a great deal of attention to seeking, adopting and deploying only the most current and state-of-the-art technology for our business. MultiChoice, lest we forget, pioneered Dual View in the pay TV industry globally. We also pioneered Box Office for movie rentals. We also hire only the best people. In the 27 years of our existence as a company in Nigeria, we must have employed, directly and indirectly,