Omotosho: MultiChoice Nigeria’s new CEO built for tight margins

By Wole Agboade

The recent announcement of her appointment as the Chief Executive Officer of MultiChoice Nigeria, a Canal Plus Company, owners of the DStv and GOtv platforms, makes Kemi Omotosho the latest entrant into the growing ranks of female chief executives in Nigeria.  That, perhaps, is not exactly surprising, given the company’s reputation for promoting gender balance. By that appointment, she has stepped into one of the country’s most visible business leadership positions.

Omotosho succeeds John Ugbe, who has retired and whose tenure shaped MultiChoice Nigeria into the top player on the country’s media business landscape. She is also the first woman to lead the organisation, taking charge of an operation that sits at the centre of pay television and digital media in Nigeria.

MultiChoice Nigeria is, by no means, a quiet enterprise. It is closely watched by subscribers, regulators, competitors and the creative industry that depends on it for funding, distribution and exposure. To run it requires constant balance between commercial performance, public scrutiny and regulatory engagement.

Omotosho is coming to the role with experience acquired in similar conditions within Africa. Before her appointment, she was Regional Director for Southern Africa at MultiChoice Group, overseeing operations across seven countries. The position carried full profit and loss responsibility and daily exposure to challenges familiar across African markets, wild exchange rate fluctuations, inflation and altered consumer patterns. It was a role defined by discipline and execution rather than visibility.

That regional brief followed years at the commercial core of the MultiChoice Group. She previously led customer value management across more than 50 African markets and held senior roles within Nigeria. Earlier in her career, she worked at Airtel Nigeria, moving across multiple functions. Across these roles runs a consistent focus on revenue, customer behaviour and the points where value is either strengthened or lost.

Her academic and executive training reflects that orientation. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from the University of Ilorin and an Executive MBA from Lagos Business School. She has also completed executive programmes at INSEAD, IESE Business School, Duke Corporate Education, and Harvard Business School, alongside internal leadership programmes within MultiChoice and Naspers. The emphasis throughout has been governance, performance and decision-making at scale.

Those who have worked with her describe a leadership style that is direct and structured. Priorities are clearly defined. Collaboration is expected. Decisions are strictly judged by outcomes, not any other thing.

That approach will be tested in Nigeria’s current operating climate. MultiChoice Nigeria has faced sustained pressure in recent years. Consumer purchasing power has weakened. Foreign exchange losses have reduced the real value of earnings. Costs have climbed sharply. Competition from global streaming platforms has intensified, while subscriber growth has crawled.

Attention has therefore shifted to affordability, value for money, and digital growth, while always keeping the customer at the heart of key business decisions. Omotosho arrives with recent experience navigating these exact tensions across multiple markets.

She takes over a company shaped by Ugbe’s leadership. During his tenure, GOtv expanded access to pay television, the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards emerged as a major cultural platform and investment in local content deepened. Operations expanded nationwide, local production scaled up and the creative sector benefited from sustained funding and visibility.

Omotosho, therefore, is inheriting a large, complex organisation with established platforms, prominent public profile and significant influence. Her brief covers strategy, profit management, cash control, governance, regulatory relationships and performance across DStv, GOtv as well as digital services. The emphasis seems set on holding ground and tightening operations before pursuing further growth.

Ugbe hands over a company defined by scale. Omotosho arrives with experience shaped by restraint and execution. The foundation is solid. The challenge is balance. How she handles it will define the next phase of MultiChoice Nigeria.

Seen in this light, reducing her appointment to a gender milestone risks missing the deeper signal. MultiChoice appears to be saying something important about how it understands leadership today: that experience in pressure-tested environments matters more than symbolism, and that competence is not gendered.

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This pattern is not isolated. Within MultiChoice Nigeria, women such as Busola Tejumola and Atinuke Babatunde occupy roles that directly shape content strategy, commercial outcomes and corporate direction. What is notable is not their presence, but the substance of their responsibilities. These are not auxiliary roles designed for optics. They sit at the heart of decision-making.

That distinction is more broadly critical for Nigerian corporate culture. Too often, diversity conversations stop at appointments without interrogating authority. Women are elevated, but insulated from the most complex problems. Progress becomes visible but shallow. What appears to be emerging in some organisations is a more mature approach — one that assigns responsibility alongside recognition and measures success by outcomes rather than novelty.

Omotosho’s appointment fits that pattern. It also tests it.

Leadership in this phase will require difficult choices. Balancing affordability with sustainability. Investing in digital platforms without alienating core audiences. Navigating regulation without losing agility. These are not problems that yield to slogans or sentiment. They demand judgement, consistency and follow-through.

Ugbe leaves behind a business defined by reach, institutional weight and cultural visibility. Omotosho steps in shaped by experience in markets where resilience mattered as much as growth. The foundation is solid.