Brands/Products
GOtv Nigeria: 13 Years of Bold Socio-Economic Footprints
When the federal government launched the Digital Switch Over (DSO) programme in 2006, the capacity of Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) operators in the country needed to be stronger to drive the national spread envisioned.
The first major capacity expansion needed came in 2011, when leading pay TV company, MultiChoice Nigeria, launched the GOtv Nigeria brand. The launch entailed significant investment in cutting-edge technology, which enabled GOtv to, from inception, deliver its programming via the second-generation DVB-T2 technology.
Riding on the most up-to-date technology, GOtv, within a short time, established itself as the country’s biggest DTT service provider by offering a different television-viewing experience through premium audio-visual quality to households in 46 cities across 25 states.
The programming line-up further enriched the experience, with channels that speak directly to the audience. Indigenous language channels such as Africa Magic Showcase, Africa Magic Epic, Africa Magic Igbo, Yoruba, and Hausa tell stories with which the audience can relate.
The popularity of Nigerian audio-visual content around the continent can hardly be divorced from the exposure that GOtv provides through the channels listed.
The channels are, of course, fed by local content creators, who are grateful for GOtv Nigeria’s patronage, which also enables them to raise quality as well as create more employment opportunities for Nigerians. Also, as part of its design to create employment, GOtv Nigeria created a series of successful skill impartation and entrepreneurship initiatives. These include Sabiman and canvassers schemes.
Since its launch in 2016, GOtv has engaged over 8,000 youth via its Sabiman and Canvasser schemes, reaching 50,0000 communities with 9,000 canvassers and over 10,000 dealers.
The Sabiman scheme was established to help selected applicants resolve various technical issues for GOTv subscribers. The programme trains participants on the basics of service activation, response to customer inquiries, and general resolution of issues. The programme also ensures that beneficiaries receive practical tutelage from seasoned facilitators on methods of handling inquiries. Under the GOtv ‘Canvasser scheme successful applicants are provided with basic marketing skills to enable them to make GOtv products more accessible to subscribers.
For a brand spreading digital broadcasting footprints in rural communities, these foot soldiers are key to information and technical support of customers. According to Beauty Nwaka, a beneficiary, the Sabiman initiative has been worth the effort. “My job as an agent is an outdoor-to-outdoor marketing strategy that enables us to meet our customers and find solutions to their recharging problems, and reconnection issues.
“I have been on the project for some years now and I can tell you it has been very good working as a Sabiman. GOtv always pays the agreed percentage as at when due. Sometimes, they challenge us with targets and promise to give us more money if we meet our targets and when we do, they never default on their promise”.
Speaking on the startup kit, Aghadiuno Chiamaka Benedicta, a Sabiman based in Onitsha, said: “GOtv gave us many start-up items including a POS machine loaded with a refundable fee of 20,000 to start my business, which went a long way for me. I was also given branded items like t-shirts and other items to let people know that we work for GOtv.”
The Sabiman and Canvasser programme has turned several Nigerian youths into micro-business owners. As GOtv celebrates its 13th anniversary, its socio-economic contributions are clear, with commitments to greater impact in years to come.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
An institutional investor, First Ally Capital, has strengthened a leading Nigerian financial technology company, Mathesis Analytics, to scale its proprietary credit decisioning infrastructure.
It made this possible by injecting fresh capital into the firm, which specialises in AI-powered credit decisioning infrastructure, an action that will directly support the growth and scaling of Mathesis’ core mission of providing the intelligence and infrastructure needed to bridge the credit gap for millions of unscored or underscored individuals across Nigeria.
With this investment, Mathesis will enable financial institutions to confidently assess and extend credit to borrowers who lack a formal credit history by leveraging an expanded pool of alternative behavioural and transactional data.
To date, Mathesis’ systems have supported more than 8 million loans for over 2 million unique borrowers in Nigeria, and the company is actively deploying its infrastructure to establish a growing pan-African footprint.
With the investment from First Ally Capital, Mathesis is well positioned to transform how the credit ecosystem operates, driving financial inclusion in partnership with lenders across the continent.
A significant barrier to credit access in Nigeria, which prides itself on being Africa’s largest economy, is data fragmentation. Borrowers frequently build positive financial behaviours across multiple digital platforms by repaying microfinance loans, saving through fintech wallets, or servicing Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) facilities.
However, under traditional credit infrastructure, these achievements remain invisible to new lenders.
Mathesis addresses this challenge through the concept of Personal Equity—the quantified expression of an individual’s financial behaviour aggregated across every institution with which they have transacted.
By translating these disparate signals into a precise, portable measure of creditworthiness, Mathesis creates a comprehensive credit identity that reflects the full breadth of a person’s financial life.
“True financial inclusion cannot be achieved in a vacuum; it requires structural collaboration in which lenders and fintech companies work as partners within the ecosystem.
“This investment from First Ally Capital validates our approach to reshaping credit infrastructure. By quantifying Personal Equity, we empower lenders to safely look beyond the constraints of formal credit histories and recognise a borrower’s true creditworthiness. This capital enables us to accelerate our pan-African expansion while maintaining the robust, institutional-grade infrastructure our partners rely on,” the chief executive of Mathesis Analytics, Winston Osuchukwu, stated.
On his part, the chief executive of First Ally Capital, Mr Ebenezer Olufowose, said, “At First Ally Capital, we pride ourselves on being a one-stop destination for financial solutions, offering a diverse portfolio of services ranging from investment banking and asset management to trusteeship, inclusive banking, and real estate.
“Our investment in Mathesis Analytics reflects our strong belief in the company’s vision and our commitment to supporting forward-thinking enterprises that deliver excellence.”
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The chief executive of Canal+ Africa, Mr David Mignot, has disclosed that MultiChoice is now fully integrated into the media group.
Mr Mignot disclosed this via a statement issued on Thursday, noting that this development marks a new phase in the evolution of one of Africa’s leading pay television operators.
He noted that the integration positions MultiChoice within a global media organisation with an extensive international footprint.
“MultiChoice is now a full subsidiary of a truly international media group operating in 70 countries. The group was founded in France, is listed in London and Johannesburg, and has a strong African presence with operations in more than 45 countries,” Mr Mignot said.
The statement underscores the scale of the combined business, highlighting Canal+’s global reach alongside its significant investments across Africa.
The completion of the transaction is expected to strengthen MultiChoice’s position in the African media and entertainment market by giving it access to the broader resources, expertise and international capabilities of the Canal+ Group, while reinforcing the group’s commitment to the continent.
MultiChoice operates across sub-Saharan Africa through platforms including DStv and GOtv, serving millions of subscribers with entertainment, sports and news content.
By Adedapo Adesanya
FoodCourt, a Nigerian cloud kitchen startup backed by Y Combinator, has suspended operations after months of unpaid salaries and mounting debts to vendors triggered a staff strike and forced the company to halt customer orders, according to a report by TechCabal.
The publication reported that customers first noticed on March 4 that they could no longer place orders through the FoodCourt app after the company disabled ordering as kitchen workers, delivery personnel and branch staff embarked on strike over unpaid wages. The company also owed outstanding payments to vendors.
By April 19, FoodCourt had temporarily shut its last operating branch after suspending activities across its Lagos and Abuja locations while seeking fresh funding and restructuring the business, according to the report.
The company’s chief executive, Mr Henry Nneji, said the decision to pause operations was not caused by a single issue but by a combination of operational, organisational and working-capital challenges.
“It’s important to clarify that the decision to pause operations wasn’t driven by one single issue. We reached a point where it became clear that continuing to patch those issues while operating wasn’t the right long-term decision,” he said.
“The objective is to build a stronger business than the one that existed before the suspension. We fully intend to bring FoodCourt back,” he added in an emailed response.
The company acknowledged outstanding obligations to employees, vendors, riders and service providers, but declined to disclose the number of affected workers or the total amount owed. It said efforts were underway to resolve the liabilities as part of its restructuring process.
It was also reported that the startup’s financial difficulties worsened after expansion into additional locations increased operating costs, while its cloud kitchen model came under pressure from rising labour, logistics, food and marketing expenses.
Despite the shutdown, Mr Nneji said FoodCourt intends to relaunch after completing its restructuring, adding that the company believes demand for its products remains strong.
Founded in 2021 by Henry Nneji and Paul Adokiye Iruene, FoodCourt operates cloud kitchens under multiple virtual restaurant brands through its consumer app. According to TechCabal, the startup had previously disclosed raising $1.7 million, delivering more than one million meals and reaching $4.3 million in annual recurring revenue by the end of 2024.
