French pay-TV giant Canal+ has announced sweeping changes to the leadership structure of its African operations, just days after finalising its takeover of South Africa’s MultiChoice Group.
Already announced is that the combined business – covering all of Africa, including French-speaking territories – will be led by David Mignot as CEO, and that outgoing MultiChoice Group CEO Calvo Mawela has been appointed chairman of Canal+ Africa.
But the combined business has now announced a huge overhaul of its management team and reporting structures, just days after the conclusion of the deal placed the South African broadcaster under foreign control for the first time in its history.
Read: Meet the French telecoms engineer now leading MultiChoice
Mignot said the newly formed team draws equally from Canal+ and MultiChoice executives and represents seven nationalities.
The new Canal+ Africa management is structured into three divisions – operations (TV and fibre), content and corporate functions. The full list of appointments is:
- David Mignot: CEO, Africa
- Nicolas Dandoy: Chief financial officer, Africa
- Aziz Diallo: CEO, pay TV French-speaking Africa
- Byron du Plessis: CEO, pay TV South Africa
- Fhulufhelo “Fhulu” Badugela: CEO, pay TV Rest of Africa
- Jean-François Duboy: CEO, GVA (fibre business)
- Hennie Visser: Director, business operations, Africa
- Fahmeeda Cassim-Surtee: CEO, advertising and media sales, Africa
- Fabrice Faux: director, content: sport and general entertainment, French-speaking Africa
- Nomsa Philiso: Director, content: general entertainment, English and Portuguese-speaking Africa
- Rendani Ramovha: Director, content: sport, English and Portuguese-speaking Africa
- Clément Hellich-Praquin: General secretary, Africa
- Jean-Christophe Ramos: Director, public affairs, French-speaking Africa
- Keabetswe “Kea” Modimoeng: Director, public affairs, English and Portuguese-speaking Africa
- Michel Sibony: Chief value officer, Africa
- Karim Bouzid: Director, integration, Africa
- Hala Saab: Director, brand and communication, Africa
- Sabelo Mawali: Chief technology officer, Africa
- Tshepi Malatjie: Director, human resources, Africa
Additional senior roles:
- Steven Bundlender: Legal affairs, English-speaking Africa
- Timothy Jacobs: Finance synergies, Africa
The new structure reflects Canal+’s ambition to build a pan-African media powerhouse that can compete with global streaming rivals while retaining deep local content expertise.
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The changes also underline the extent of the transition at MultiChoice, which faces subscriber losses and rising competitive pressure in its core markets. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media
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