South African internet and media company Naspers’ currently has a tight grip on the reigns as Africa’s biggest company by market value. Naspers’ is the parent company to big names such as Multichoice, Showmax, and Udemy amongst a myriad of others, and is also one of the largest technology investors in the world.
The company is currently seeking partnerships with mobile-phone operators in Africa to boost its video-on-demand business to compete with US-based giant Netflix.
Naspers is seeking to maintain its market-leading position with online products like Showmax, which offers movies and TV shows such as Game of Thrones and Vikings.“There’s not a lot of cable on the continent and never will be,” Van Dijk said. “The video-on-demand business will have to be a mobile play through affordable data.”
Naspers CEO Bob van Dijk shares the company’s insights its plans to take on Netflix and other on-demand services in Skype interview with CNBC.
People want to consume their videos regardless of where they are and when it is is. They have to respond to that demand.
The company proved it’s dedication to this course of action by freeing up 10% stake in Tencent to pursue the new venture that has been in planning for a number of years now.