Dethroning Naspers-owned DStv as the pay TV market leader in
Africa is proving a death knell for its competitors.
Two years after it first launched, Kwese TV, the pay TV
service owned by telecoms giant Econet, is shut down. Group CEO Douglas Mboweni said this
was due to the country’s economic condition and shortage of foreign currency.
“We regret to announce the discontinuation of Kwese TV Satellite
Service with effect from Aug. 5,” Mboweni said in a statement. The service was
offered by Econet Media Ltd., an affiliated company.
“The third party content providers on whose content we rely,
require payment in foreign currency,” he added. “With the prevailing economic
conditions in Zimbabwe, and the current business operating environment
–characterized by an acute shortage of foreign currency –sustaining Kwese and
Kwese Satellite Service was no longer viable.”
In the two years it operated, Kwese TV garnered tens of
thousands of subscribers across more than 12 African countries but likely never
got anywhere close enough to DStv which has over 13.5 million subscribers
across Africa, with 7 million in South Africa alone.
