Zimbabwean billionaire aims to score in Kenya with EPL match broadcasts

Zimbabwean billionaire Strive Masiyiwa. The businessman plans to launch a pay-TV service in Kenya. PHOTO | FILE 

By DAVID HERBLING

In Summary

• Considering the fanatical following the English soccer league commands across Africa, the EPL rights are considered a cash cow.

Zimbabwean billionaire Strive Masiyiwa is taking on DStv and Zuku with plans to launch a pay-TV service in Kenya that will broadcast the highly popular English premier league football matches.

The business magnate has set up Kwesé Sports, a pan-African television service to be rolled out in Kenya and across the continent on mobile, Internet and satellite-based platforms.

Kwesé Sports will go live next month ahead of the kickoff of London’s topflight soccer action set for August 13, 2016.

“Kwesé is working very hard to acquire good quality sporting action, where these rights are available and competitively priced,” the upcoming sports channel said in a statement to Business Daily.

Considering the fanatical following the English soccer league commands across Africa, the EPL rights are considered a cash cow.

Currently, Kwesé is offering free screenings via its portal - www.Kwesesports.com – and through “Kwesé Now” mobile app available in both Android and iOS.

Rights

Mr Masiyiwa’s television venture has also inked a deal to broadcast the US National Basketball Association (NBA) tournament across Africa.

Other sporting deals Kwesé Sports has bagged broadcast rights for include the English premiership rugby, boxing events promoter Matchroom Sport, Cricket Australia, and mixed martial arts under the Extreme Fighting Championship banner.

“Pricing for these, and other products still to be launched, will be made available in due course,” Kwesé Sports said. Liquid Telecom, a data, voice and IP provider with operations in Kenya and eight other African countries, is a subsidiary of Econet Group, founded by Mr Masiyiwa.

Apart from Kwese Sports, Liquid Telecom has already launched an on-demand video service in Kenya dubbed Hai, which means “I am alive” in Kiswahili.

Hai, which is meant to counter Netflix, is availed through Liquid Telecom’s fibre to home service which is now available in Kenya, Zambia, and Rwanda.

Liquid has now connected 3,500 homes, 2,000 of which are in Runda and Rosslyn Estates while 1,500 are in Greatwall Apartments and areas around Syokimau. Some 500 homes have subscribed to Hai.

Mr Joel Muigai, Head of Retail Business, Liquid Telecoms, said connecting the homes to fibre will give ability to players like Netflix to deliver HD quality of their services to your entertainment screen.

“All we can say is Netflix experience on Hai network will be the best (remember Liquid’s network is directly peered to Netflix network in South Africa — meaning while connected to the Internet through Hai, you don’t go through any other network to stream Netflix),” said Muigai.