EAST AFRICA – MultiChoice, a video entertainment company, has appointed Emma Gichonge as the new general manager for operations for East Africa for its Showmax video streaming service.
She will oversee the East African market as the company relaunches its streaming service in partnership with Comcast NBCUniversal’s Peacock and Sky.
Emma Gichonge brings a wealth of experience to her new role, having previously worked at the startup Yutap and the telecoms giant Safaricom.
Showmax chief operating officer Joe Heshu the new changes have been driven by a strong partnership between the MultiChoice Group and Comcast NBC Universal.
“With our ambition to be Africa’s No one streamer, we’re very happy to welcome Emma, whose wealth of experience will serve our customers in the key East African market,” said Heshu.
Gichonge’s reputation for building high-performance teams was honed by working across multiple industries and countries.
At Safaricom, Gichonge worked for nearly eight years, holding various managerial roles including leading the migration of the Mpesa mobile money platform. At Yutap, she oversaw the implementation of mobile money solutions across Africa and Asia.
Most recently, she was Managing Director at MultiChoice Malawi, responsible for several commercial initiatives in the country.
“Showmax is a bold business and is in an exciting stage in its story – moving onto the global scale. With my passion for innovation, and for East Africa, I’m looking forward to building the business with the Kenyan Showmax team,” said Gichonge.
She added that plans are underway to re-integrate in-app M-PESA payments with Showmax’s new technology.
“Currently customers can pay using M-PESA USSD but full M-PESA options will launch soon,” added the new General Manager.
She holds a Masters degree (IT Management) and a Bachelor of Science degree (Information Technology).
The appointment comes after Showmax moved into a new streaming platform that saw the streamer revamp its offering.
Last year, Showmax surpassed Netflix as the leading streaming platform in Africa with customers across 44 African markets.
Also, MultiChoice, NBCUniversal from Comcast, and Sky unveiled a joint streaming strategy for Africa. The plan includes a rebranding and a new content lineup, all to be provided via their streaming platform, Showmax.
MultiChoice Group recently commenced an investment journey into Showmax.
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