The OTT platform iflix, has abandoned its participation in the African market by selling its activity to Econet Global. iflix announced for the first time the launch of its service in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in June 2017 and the company claims to have experienced “eight months of rapid growth”. After which, he joined Econet Global, which saw the international group of Pan-African origin acquire a significant stake in iflix Africa. Subsequently, iflix Africa was renamed Kwesé iflix and expanded to eastern and southern Africa.

iflix co-founder and CEO, Mark Britt, declared, “It has been an incredible journey and learning experience, launching our service in Africa. The acquisition by the Econet Group, our regional partner and Africa’s leading broadcast network, is a significant milestone for the African business, and further reinforces iflix’s commitment to our core markets in Asia, particularly Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines which continue to grow from strength to strength.”

The completion of this transaction follows Econet’s recently announced decision to reduce the size of its Kwesé direct-to-home television service in order to refocus the business on a digital future. Econet Global Limited President and CEO Hardy Pemhiwa said the completion of the iflix Africa acquisition was a natural progression for the company’s revised business strategy as a group – in particular the business of Kwesé which offers premium broadcasting services “With the immense growth and positive uptake of VOD and OTT services across the continent, we believe connected services – particularly mobile – is the future of broadcasting in Africa,” he said.