On December 4, 2015, Strive Masiyiwa, the Founder and Group Chairman of Econet Wireless, made an announcement through his Facebook page about a new multi-platform media company offering Pay TV, Free-to-Air (FTA), IPTV and video-on-demand services, named Kwesé TV.

For us in Ghana, little did we know that this was going to add up to the few Pay TV services we have on the market.

We woke up one day to realise that Viasat 1, a Ghanaian television channel owned by the Swedish listed media group, had been acquired as part of the Econet Media Ghana Ltd, a subsidiary of the Econet Group of Companies based in South Africa.

The new owners introduced themselves to the market through Kwese Free Sports, (an FTA channel that was formerly Viasat 1), then later launched the Kwese TV decoder with over 76 channels with premium and exclusive content.

In barely two years of operating in Ghana, Kwesé is already a household name operating a Pay TV and FTA TV space, which is equally a multi-channelled satellite dish and decoder-enabled service which operates in over 12 countries on the African continent.

Indeed, this meant the Ghanaian viewer would have several choices to pick his bouquet of television channels from.

The name "Kwesé" was derived from the Shona word ‘kwese’, which means "everywhere" and "anywhere".

Maxwell Dodd is CEO

In a bid to provide the best TV experience everywhere to its customers, Econet Media Ghana has redesigned its business (i.e Pay TV, Kwese-ESPN website, Kwese Free Sports, Kwese Play, IP TV) and VOD units to come under one head.

Mr Maxwell Dodd, who is striving to make Kwesé the game changer for all the Pay TV services, has now been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Econet Media Ghana.

He previously held the position as the Country Manager for the Kwese TV Pay TV business only.

He is a sales strategist with over 20 years experience and track record in sales, business and channel development.

Explaining who a sales strategist is to The Mirror, Mr Dodd said a sales strategy consists of a plan that positions a company’s brand or product to gain a competitive advantage.

“Successful strategies help the sales force focus on target market customers and communicates with them in relevant, meaningful ways.”

Prior to joining Econet Media as Country Manager, he was the Vice-President and Director for Consumer and Enterprise Business, Airtel Ghana.

Mr Dodd holds an MBA in International Marketing from the UK, a Telecoms MBA and Strategy in Action Certificate from Harvard Business School and is a professional marketer with post-graduate qualifications in Advanced Telecoms Strategies.
Across the West African sub-region, Mr Dodd has worked with multinational companies such as Shell, Mobil, L’Oréal West Africa, Vodafone, Airtel and Econet.

He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing UK/Ghana and serves on the Super Brands Board, among others.

Aside from these, he is an international speaker with yearly presentations at AficaCom & Conference. Mr Dodd has mentored many young business executives and entrepreneurs across Africa and beyond.

A preacher with the Lighthouse Chapel, Mr Dodd is a family man with two children.

He is an ardent book lover who loves to read a minimum of two books in a week. “I love to read religious, non-fictions and books that border on my speciality.”

Kwesé products

Touching on what makes Kwesé stand out more than the other Pay TVs, Mr Dodd said in addition to great content and its multi-platform, multi-screen broadcasting model, Kwesé’s key differentiator is its innovative payment options that offer flexibility and convenience.

Kwesé offers a ‘pay-as-you-watch’ service that enables viewers to purchase three or seven day passes to its full programming bouquet so they never have to miss out on trending sports or entertainment programming.

These payment options, which turn the traditional Pay TV model on its head, provide unparalleled access to premium programming at an affordable price.

For instance, consumers can choose between three subscriptions, which are monthly (110 cedis), weekly (35 cedis) and three days (35 cedis).

There are about 70 channels on the Kwese TV bouquet, some of which are CNN, BBC World News, NBA, Sky News, God TV, EWTN, Box African Trace Africa, Fine Living, Fox, Travel Channel, CBeebies BBC, Cartoon Network, Dreamworks and JimJam.

He added that: “The multi-platform, multi-screen content distribution model offered by Kwesé includes traditional linear and “catch-up” subscription (paid) and FTA television via satellite direct to home (DTH), Kwesé mobile, Kwesé digital player, Kwesé online products” which is unique to Kwese TV.