Brands/Products
SweepSouth Acquires Filkhedma to Penetrate Egyptian Market
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
An Egyptian start-up, Filkhedma, has been acquired by SweepSouth, a South African-based company also currently operating in Kenya and Nigeria.
“We are thrilled to have Filkhedma as part of the SweepSouth family,” the CEO and co-founder of SweepSouth, Ms Aisha Pandor, stated.
“It’s not only their services that align with ours, but also their values and culture. Just like us, Filkhedma is passionate about providing quality and trusted home services, while creating work opportunities for those who need it most,” she added.
“We’ve proven our technology and operational expertise in numerous markets in sub-Saharan Africa, and this acquisition gives us the opportunity to extend that reach into Egypt, a huge market with millions of households.
“Coming together with the Filkhedma team represents the next phase of building SweepSouth into a global platform that will continue to expand our services not only on the continent but further abroad as well,” the co-founder of the firm, Mr Alen Ribic added.
Filkhedma is Egypt’s leading home services marketplace operating across three regions on the continent and serving tens of thousands of customers with cleaning, maintenance, and beauty services while empowering over 2,000 service providers through technology with consistent incomes and professional development.
“We are happy with this incredible milestone and excited about joining forces with the SweepSouth team to fulfil our vision of empowering providers and delivering quality services in Africa and beyond.
“We already have well over 2 000 service providers on our platform and we’re confident that with the backing of SweepSouth, we will be able to sign up many more and expand into neighbouring countries, too,” the CEO of Filkhedma, Mr Omar Ramadan, stated.
Under the new arrangement, Mr Ramadan will play a key role in the executive team of the combined entity and that all employees of Filkhedma will stay on.
The acquisition means that SweepSouth will be one of a few African start-ups operating in the continent’s four key tech ecosystems of South Africa, Egypt, Kenya, and Nigeria. It also means that all markets will have access to new services almost immediately, while the company as a whole will be primed for further expansion into other parts of Africa and the Middle East.
For South Africa, the biggest change will be the imminent rollout of beauty services. This will include manicures and pedicures, hair care and makeup services that can be done at home. This not only gives SweepSouth customers access to more services, but it also gives entrepreneurs in the field the opportunity to list on the platform. This, in turn, allows access to a larger pool of potential customers.
For Egypt, the company will benefit from SweepSouth’s technology, as well as the indoor and outdoor home cleaning services already available in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria.
Naspers Foundry Head, Fabian Whate, said, “This acquisition has the potential to yield significant synergies. Filkhedma is an excellent business and is aligned to SweepSouth’s ambitions to expand its service offering and gain access to high growth markets across the region.
“Egypt’s growing middle class and rising financial inclusion and internet penetration, offer huge opportunities for the combined home services platform of the two companies. Helping high-potential early-stage tech companies scale is central to what Naspers Foundry does and we’re particularly excited about this milestone in SweepSouth’s journey.”
“We are very excited to see this partnership happen and the prospects of this combined entity,” said Tarek Assaad, Managing Partner at Algebra Ventures, the lead investor in Filkhedma. “Filkhedma pioneered the home services industry to become the largest player in Egypt, and this consolidation with SweepSouth demonstrates the parallel fits between Egypt and Sub-Saharan Africa. Companies partnering across the continent pave the way to cross-border investments, and highlight that we are one step closer in addressing the untapped opportunities existing in Africa’s key markets.”
“Egypt has been a strong economic player on the continent for many years,” notes Pandor. “The country has a strong, and growing, middle-class that has been underserved in the domestic home services arena. With a compelling economic growth track record and outlook, and an economy that has been resilient in the face of challenging times, it made sense for us to eye this market for our next big leap.”
“We are entering a rapid growth phase and executing on a number of other new country launches in 2022,” adds Pandor. “Having the Filkhedma team on board is particularly exciting as it’s an intra-African acquisition by two companies in the same vertical. This acquisition almost doubles our addressable market on the continent and enhances the products and services that we already offer.”
“We are particularly excited about the growth prospects this acquisition presents us with,” Ramadan notes. “Already we have a string of new software updates coming thanks to this acquisition and we are also able to offer our expertise in onboarding our popular services, such as air conditioning technicians, satellite dish installations and home appliance repairs, in other regions.”
“I look forward to working with Aisha, her co-founder Alen Ribic, and their team as we enter this exciting new chapter,” he concludes.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Canal+, which now owns MultiChoice, a pay-TV firm, has announced its decision to discontinue the streaming service, Showmax.
The company said the Showmax board has made the decision to discontinue the service in the near future.
“This decision reflects our focus on strengthening our overall digital offering and ensuring long-term sustainability in an increasingly competitive streaming environment.
“Importantly, at the moment, there will be no interruption to your current service. You can continue streaming as usual, and no action is required from you at this time,” it said.
It added that it will share further details in the future, including timelines and any future steps, should they be required.
MultiChoice launched Showmax across Africa 10 years ago in August 2015 to compete with the advent of streamers like Netflix, Apple TV, Amazon’s Prime Video, Disney+ and others, which all became available on the continent and started biting into MultiChoice’s legacy pay-TV subscriber base on DStv and GOtv.
However, it soon faced some challenges and couldn’t hit its target.
In February 2024, MultiChoice, in partnership with Comcast’s NBCUniversal, relaunched Showmax, utilising the technology behind the Peacock streaming service.
The investment, which was pegged at over $300 million, still did not bear the expected fruit, with other streaming giants seeing growth over the years.
With Canal+’s takeover and its aggressive cost-cutting moves, it was no doubt that Showmax got the axe.
Regardless, it said, “Streaming remains central to our strategy. We will continue to invest in premium content, technology innovation and partnerships to deliver the best possible entertainment experience to our customers.”
Canal+ is looking to cut a combined €400 million by 2030, which will affect content.
NBCUniversal has a 30 per cent stake in Showmax as a joint venture. In its last annual results before the Canal+ takeover, MultiChoice revealed that Showmax’s trading losses had worsened by 88 per cent while revenue significantly declined.
According to the company, “The decision to axe Showmax was made by the Showmax board and reflects the continued focus of MultiChoice, a Canal+ company, on financial discipline and investment optimisation, in an increasingly competitive and capital-intensive global streaming environment.”
Since Canal+, as part of its agreement to take over MultiChoice, isn’t allowed to get rid of any staff for a period of three years, MultiChoice won’t let any Showmax staff go but will reassign them to other positions within the broader company.
MultiChoice has already started to quietly rebrand Showmax Originals as Africa Magic, M-Net, kykNET and Mzansi Magic Originals, with original series that will transition to these various DStv linear TV channels on the MultiChoice pay-TV platform.
Showmax’s closure comes two years after Amazon MGM Studios shocked Nigeria and South Africa’s creative community in January 2024 when it announced that it would stop commissioning any new local original content in Africa, and also ended already-existing development deals with a dozen production companies.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Marketing Manager of a leading bleach brand in Nigeria, Hypo Bleach, Mr Adebayo Adeyemo, has condemned the presentation of the brand as a beverage for trends, jokes, or views by influencers and bloggers.
In a statement, Mr Adeyemo said Hypo Bleach was formulated to “remove stains, whiten your white fabric, deodorise and kill 99.9 per cent of germs” and not produced as a “drink.”
“We have observed people seeming to have fun creating and sharing videos and AI-generated images designed to make Hypo look like a beverage.
“Your health and safety are serious business. We want to be unambiguous: those images are fabricated, that framing is false, and anyone encouraging others to consume Hypo, even as a joke, even for views, is putting lives at risk. It is not something to consume for the sake of trends,” the Marketing Manager stated.
He further said, “To every influencer, blogger, and content creator. Your reach is real; so is your responsibility. A trend that ends in ill-health is not a trend worth starting.”
“To every young Nigerian seeing this content, you do not have to prove anything to anyone. Not online. Not offline. Not ever. If someone is pressuring you to try this, that is not a dare. That is harm.
|If you or someone you know is struggling emotionally or feeling pressure they cannot handle, please reach out to someone you trust.
A guardian. A counsellor. A healthcare professional. Asking for help is not a weakness; it is a strength.
“Also, we urge people to prioritise their mental health. Evaluate the quality of your conversations with people. Should you notice inconsistencies in their thinking, encourage them to seek professional help. Depression is real and should be treated with utmost concern. Let’s keep social media fun, but safe,” Mr Adeyemo added.
By Dipo Olowookere
A conference designed to examine how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is fundamentally reshaping crisis communication, institutional response systems, governance frameworks, and reputational risk management is slated to take place on Wednesday, March 25, 2026, in Lagos, at 10 am.
The event, planned by a renowned Public Relations (PR) firm, CMC Connect LLP, is themed Crisis Management in the AI Milieu: New Threats, Smarter Responses.
It is an offshoot of the company’s flagship industry initiative, Crisis Management Advocacy Month, scheduled to be held throughout March 2026.
The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Mr Bosun Tijani, is expected to deliver the keynote address, while the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mr Mohammed Idris Malagi, is the Special Guest of Honour.
Earlier in the month, the Vice President for Corporate Communications and CSR at Airtel Africa, Mr Emeka Oparah, will headline a closed-door media workshop convened exclusively for senior media executives in Lagos.
The 2026 edition will also feature strategic collaborations with the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) through its Monthly PR Clinics in both the Lagos and Abuja Chapters, where the Senior Corporate Communications Analyst at CMC Connect LLP, Ms Affiong Edet, will deliver a thematic presentation aligned with this year’s focus.
The initiative will also partner with the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Legal Practice through its weekly webinar series to interrogate the intersection of AI, Crisis Management, and the Law.
“Artificial Intelligence has fundamentally altered the crisis landscape. Crisis Management Advocacy Month 2026 is intentionally designed to convene cross-sector leaders to interrogate emerging risks, strengthen institutional preparedness, and promote smarter, ethical response architectures in an AI-driven environment,” the Project Coordinator, Ms Bright Emmanuel Okon, commented.
Also, the Lead Partner of CMC Connect LLP, Mr Yomi Badejo-Okunsanya, said, “In today’s digital ecosystem, crises evolve at unprecedented speed. Institutions must move beyond reactive communication toward intelligent crisis architecture. Crisis Management Advocacy Month represents our commitment to advancing national and institutional resilience in the age of AI.”
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