On September 26, Canal+ announced its new Africa leadership team, consolidating management across the continent just four days after formally completing its R35 billion acquisition of MultiChoice, Africa’s largest pay-TV provider. The new structure is presented as a single pan-African management team covering Operations (TV and Fiber), Content, and Corporate Functions.
Consider this your switchboard for what will now be Africa’s largest media company. Every role has a name, so you don’t need to ping me for who’s in charge anymore.
The press release listed only the new roles, while their recent professional histories were provided by African Screen Intelligence (ASI). My early “big picture” take follows.
The Key Appointments
Executive Leadership:
- Calvo Mawela, outgoing MultiChoice CEO, becomes Chairman of Canal+ Africa. He led MultiChoice as Group CEO from 2018 until 2025, steering its 2019 spin-off and JSE listing.
- David Mignot is named CEO of Canal+ Africa, the combined pay-TV and streaming giant. He previously served as Canal+ General Manager for Africa since 2013, growing subscribers from 500,000 to 8 million.
- Nicolas Dandoy, CFO of Africa, joins from Canal+ International. He was CFO of Canal+ International’s pay-TV operations and brings more than 25 years of media finance and M&A experience.
Operations Division (TV & Fiber)
- Aziz Diallo, CEO, PayTV French-speaking Africa. Appointed in March 2025, he earlier led Canal+ Mali and Côte d’Ivoire, leveraging deep Francophone market expertise.
- Byron du Plessis, CEO, PayTV South Africa. He became MultiChoice South Africa CEO in December 2024 after serving as Group Deputy CFO.
- Fhulufhelo “Fhulu” Badugela, CEO, PayTV Rest of Africa. She has led MultiChoice Africa Holdings since 2021, after roles as Chief People Officer and Regional Director.
- Jean-François Duboy, CEO, GVA (Fiber Broadband Africa). He has led Group Vivendi Africa since 2023, after serving as COO for Canal+ Africa operations.
- Hennie Visser, Director, Business Operations, Africa. He spent a decade as CFO of MultiChoice Africa’s Rest of Africa division before moving into COO responsibilities.
- Fahmeeda Cassim-Surtee, CEO, Advertising & Media Sales, Africa. She has headed DStv Media Sales since 2018, after joining MultiChoice in 1998.
Content Division (Programming)
- Fabrice Faux, Director, Content – Sport & General Entertainment, Francophone Africa. He was formerly Canal+ International’s Director of Channels and Content, and CEO of THEMA.
- Nomsa Philiso, Director, Content – General Entertainment, English & Portuguese Africa. She has been CEO of General Entertainment at MultiChoice, leading DStv and Showmax originals.
- Rendani Ramovha, Director, Content – Sport, English & Portuguese Africa. He became CEO of SuperSport in 2024, maintaining its continental dominance in sports broadcasting.
Corporate Functions Division
- Clément Hellich-Praquin, General Secretary, Africa. He served as Canal+ Group’s Corporate General Counsel, handling major legal and regulatory matters.
- Jean-Christophe Ramos, Director, Public Affairs – French-speaking Africa. He was previously VP of Institutional Relations at Canal+, managing government and regulatory engagement.
- Keabetswe “Kea” Modimoeng, Director, Public Affairs – English & Portuguese Africa. The former ICASA chair joined MultiChoice in 2023 to head Corporate Affairs and Stakeholder Relations.
- Michel Sibony, Chief Value Officer, Africa. He was Vivendi’s Chief Value Officer, driving procurement and synergy strategies across Canal+, Havas, and Universal Music.
- Karim Bouzid, Director, Integration, Africa. A Canal+ manager with cross-border project experience, he now leads the operational integration of MultiChoice into Canal+.
- Hala Saab, Director, Brand & Communication, Africa. She has been Canal+’s Director of International Communications, leading campaigns in Europe and the Middle East.
- Sabelo Mwali, Chief Technology Officer, Africa. As MultiChoice CTO, he oversaw streaming platforms, IT systems, and digital innovation projects.
- Tshepiso “Tshepi” Malatjie, Director, Human Resources, Africa. She was Chief People Officer at MultiChoice, driving talent and culture programs across African markets.
- Steven Budlender, Head of Legal Affairs, English-speaking Africa. A Senior Counsel in South Africa, he became MultiChoice Group’s General Counsel prior to the merger.
- Timothy Jacobs, Finance Synergies Lead, Africa. He served as MultiChoice Group CFO since 2020, guiding the company through its listing and financial restructuring.
The Bigger Picture
The announcement sets out who will run Canal+’s enlarged African operations. The team draws evenly from Canal+ and MultiChoice executives, with roles divided across operations, content, and corporate functions, and some balance of linguistic and regional representation.
What it suggests is continuity and stability: Calvo Mawela moves upstairs as chairman to reassure South African and African stakeholders, while day-to-day control rests with David Mignot and Paris-aligned executives.
The scale of the combined company now serves more than 40 million subscribers across nearly 70 countries and controls both DStv/Showmax and Canal+ Afrique/myCanal.
This is the next step? Moving from legal completion to operational reality. For regulators, the R26 billion in public interest commitments (announced in July) are now binding. For governments in markets like Ghana and Nigeria, subscription pricing battles will be the next point of friction.
But beyond the names, this week’s message is that Canal+ wants to present itself as unified and ready to operate as one African business, even if its detailed strategy has yet to be disclosed.
Canal+ will close its mandatory offer on October 10, 2025, with settlement payments due a week later on October 17. The company has also committed to publishing detailed synergy and integration plans in the first quarter of 2026.
Still to come, in a separate newsletter, I’ll dig deeper into the details with a fuller analysis of what to expect over the next three to five years. I’d like to wait until more of the specifics are on the table.
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