MultiChoice, Africa’s leading entertainment platform and parent company of DStv, has warned its shareholders to brace for more difficult times ahead as it continues to struggle with a challenging business environment across its key markets.

The company, which has long dominated Africa’s pay-TV industry, has suffered a sharp decline in its subscriber base, dropping from over 23 million to 19.3 million in less than two years.

The loss has been most pronounced outside its home market of South Africa, with Nigeria emerging as a major pressure point. The country, which once served as one of MultiChoice’s biggest revenue sources, has seen a steep decline in subscribers.

In a statement detailing the challenges it faces, MultiChoice highlighted Nigeria’s economic turmoil as a key factor behind its struggles.

“The loss in the rest of Africa has been primarily due to the significant consumer pressure in Nigeria, where inflation has remained above 30% for the majority of the last 12 months and, more recently, due to extreme power disruptions in Zambia,” the company stated.

MultiChoice is currently preparing to release its financial results for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025, and has already warned that the tough consumer environment has not only driven away subscribers but has also stifled revenue growth.

MultiChoice’s Tariff Hike and Consumer Pushback in Nigeria

MultiChoice’s decision to repeatedly increase its subscription prices has fueled tensions with Nigerian consumers and regulators. Over the past two years, the company has implemented several tariff hikes, citing the rising costs of operations, currency devaluation, and increasing business expenses in Nigeria’s tough economic climate.

In April 2023, MultiChoice raised its DStv and GOtv subscription rates by an average of 17%, blaming inflation and foreign exchange volatility. Just a year later, in April 2024, the company announced another price hike of up to 20%, sparking outrage among subscribers.

The price hikes have led to mounting consumer backlash, with many Nigerians accusing the company of exploiting the country’s economic crisis for profit. Consumer rights groups and regulatory bodies, including the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), have also waded into the dispute, demanding that MultiChoice justify its continuous increases in subscription rates.

At various times, the Nigerian National Assembly had intervened, attempting to compel MultiChoice to adopt a pay-as-you-watch model, a demand that has long been echoed by Nigerian subscribers. However, MultiChoice has resisted, arguing that such a model is not feasible for its business operations.

Despite the public outcry, the company has defended its price adjustments, pointing to soaring operational costs, including the expense of acquiring foreign content, maintaining satellite infrastructure, and sustaining local productions.

Subscribers Decline More About Economic Hardship Than Tariff Protest

Although MultiChoice’s tariff hikes have undoubtedly fueled dissatisfaction among Nigerian consumers, industry analysts believe the sharp decline in subscribers has more to do with economic hardship than a protest against price increases.

Nigeria’s inflation has been at record highs, remaining above 30% for much of the past year. Food prices, rent, and transportation costs have skyrocketed, significantly reducing disposable income for millions of Nigerians. Faced with rising living costs, many households have been forced to cut back on non-essential expenses, including pay-TV subscriptions.

Industry experts note that Nigerians are not necessarily boycotting MultiChoice over its price hikes but are simply unable to afford the service anymore. Even consumers who previously subscribed to premium packages have been downgrading to lower-tier plans or abandoning their subscriptions altogether.

A Tough Road Ahead for MultiChoice

MultiChoice’s latest operational update paints a grim picture of the challenges facing the pay-TV industry across Africa. The combination of economic hardship, consumer resistance to price hikes, and increased competition from streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime has put the company in a precarious position.

The company is now at a crossroads, as it must find ways to retain subscribers while managing its rising costs. While it has been investing in local content and digital offerings to attract viewers, the decline in subscribers in Nigeria suggests that recovery may be slow.

Only in America will a private company give or promise to give another private company $40 billion: ‘OpenAI has closed a record-breaking $40 billion funding round, the “most ever raised by a private technology company,” reports CNBC. Led by SoftBank Group, the round boosts the ChatGPT maker’s valuation to $300 billion.’ Good People, that is the Nigerian annual budget there.

This world is unbalanced, and I am flummoxed (allow me use big grammar), and cannot figure out how Africa will catch up if one company is so confident that it can do this wire!

Yes, to build nations, you need three things as I explain here: “Three things are required to build a nation or a company, and they are People, Processes and Tools. You can have the people but without the processes and tools, you will still fail. Nigeria as a country has the people but the other two are missing at scale. Processes are the rule of law which governs an ecosystem. …”

Nigeria’s best leader is possibly going to be someone who can lead the nation to rebuild its processes and enhance the tools. It goes beyond building new universities to produce the People because this is a triple helix issue which must work symphonically to advance shared prosperity and abundance for all. I share a video here.

Capital falls under Tools and needs a peaceful abode. Yes, Nigeria must do whatever must be done to give global capital the confidence to choose Nigeria, just as America has made this capital from Japan to come to it.

How To Make Nigeria Great by Improving People, Processes and Tools

OpenAI’s ambitious $40 billion private funding round faces a potential reduction of $10 billion if the company fails to restructure into a for-profit entity by December 31. The funding round, which was initially expected to bring OpenAI’s valuation to $300 billion, could shrink to $30 billion, according to a source familiar with the deal.

SoftBank, which had committed $30 billion, would see its investment drop to $20 billion, while the remaining $10 billion—largely coming from investors including Microsoft—would remain unchanged.

The Wall Street Journal first reported on the funding provision, which places increased pressure on OpenAI to finalize its transition into a for-profit entity. This move would require approval from both Microsoft and the California Attorney General, but it also faces legal challenges from Elon Musk. Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015 when it was a nonprofit research lab, has been highly critical of its shift towards commercialization and has filed a lawsuit against the company over its direction.

This funding round comes in the wake of the DeepSeek frenzy, which sent ripples across the U.S. AI landscape. DeepSeek, a Chinese AI model, gained widespread attention for its cost-effectiveness, with claims that it could deliver performance comparable to top-tier American AI models at a fraction of the computational expense. The emergence of DeepSeek sparked speculation that companies like OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Anthropic might be forced to cut operating costs or rethink their pricing strategies.

However, OpenAI’s latest funding round suggests that the DeepSeek buzz has not significantly impacted the financial trajectory of the U.S. AI industry. Despite concerns that cost-efficient alternatives could shake up the dominance of American AI firms, OpenAI is still commanding massive capital investments, reinforcing the belief that the AI race remains firmly centered in the U.S. as a multi-billion-dollar industry.

Investors participating in the funding round will receive convertible notes that will later be exchanged for equity once OpenAI finalizes its restructuring. A portion of the capital is expected to support OpenAI’s commitment to Stargate, a $500 million joint venture with SoftBank and Oracle that was announced by President Donald Trump in January. Stargate is a major AI infrastructure initiative aimed at accelerating OpenAI’s development of advanced artificial intelligence models and computing power.

The pressure to secure additional funding comes as OpenAI undergoes major internal changes. Last week, the company announced a leadership shake-up, with CEO Sam Altman stepping back from daily operations to focus on AI research and product innovation. Brad Lightcap, OpenAI’s Chief Operating Officer, will now oversee the company’s business operations and daily management.

Despite the challenges surrounding its restructuring, OpenAI remains on a strong financial trajectory. The company expects its revenue to nearly triple to $12.7 billion in 2025, driven by surging demand for its AI models and services. The ability to secure billions in fresh capital further solidifies OpenAI’s dominant position in the industry, even as it faces competition from emerging cost-effective AI models like DeepSeek.

While the DeepSeek frenzy briefly raised questions about AI cost structures, OpenAI’s continued ability to raise tens of billions suggests that the U.S. AI industry remains on an aggressive growth path, undeterred by the emergence of lower-cost competitors.