Harnessing the power of possibility to help Africa claim its space in the global broadcasting industry is the subject of Yes To Impossible: The Nolo Letele Story, a documentary about the life of former MultiChoice Group Executive Chairperson Nolo Letele. 

Coming to DStv from 13 June at 7pm on Akwaaba Magic (DStv Channel 150), the documentary shows how growing up in an era where the spirit of independence was sweeping across Africa shaped Letele’s vision for the continent to have its own voice and how he worked tirelessly to realise that vision. 

To speak of the growth of the African broadcast media industry is to speak of the result of Nolo’s endeavours, passion for African storytelling and relentless commitment to excellence.

After studying electronic engineering at the University of Southampton, and later becoming a chartered engineer, Nolo Letele applied for jobs in South Africa – only to find there were hardly any jobs for a black electronics graduate back in 1974. He ended up working for Lesotho National Broadcasting Service, a small radio station and subsequently played a major role in starting the first TV station in Lesotho in conjunction with M-Net in 1988. 

Having established his credentials, he was then asked to join M-Net in 1990 he describes it as “being thrown in the deep end” by then-Naspers CEO Koos Bekker to help build DStv into the juggernaut it is today. In spite of South Africa’s image during those apartheid years, Letele succeeded in pioneering MultiChoice’s expansion into the rest of Africa, and in 1995 went on to serve in Ghana as West African regional general manager. He returned home when he was appointed chief executive of MultiChoice South Africa a few years later. 

In 1999, he was appointed as MultiChoice Group chief executive until 2010, when he was appointed executive chair of the MultiChoice South Africa Holdings board, a position he held for 11 years. He became a non-executive director of MultiChoice Group Limited after the company was spun out of Naspers and listed independently on the JSE.

Letele received several awards during his tenure at MultiChoice, including a Lifetime Africa Achievement Prize for Media Development in Africa; the Naspers Phil Weber Award; and the Black Business Executive Circle Chairman’s Award.

“I’m proud to have helped connect Africa to the world and give the continent a voice,” says Letele. “MultiChoice’s reach is unparalleled in Africa and it has given the people of Africa the opportunity to tell their own stories in their own languages. We have grown industries, created jobs and contributed meaningfully to economic growth across the continent – it’s something I hold very dear as the realization of a vision I had over 35 years ago when I joined a small Pay-TV business in South Africa”.

Yes To Impossible: The Nolo Letele Story premieres on 13 June at 21:00 on Akwaaba Magic (DStv Channel 150), with repeats across all channels in the following days and will also be available on DStv Catch Up, DStv Stream and Showmax. 

For more information, visit the Akwaaba Magic Website and join the conversation on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook with #YesToTheImpossible.

The eight-episode second season of HBO Original drama series House of the Dragon debuts in the US on Sunday 16 June – and will be available on M-Net (DStv Channel 101) Express from the US at 3am on Monday 17 June and make its prime-time premiere at 9pm on the same day. The series will also be available on Showmax. 

Viewers can get ready for the dragons to soar as the official trailer for the brand-new season has been released.

Logline: Based on George R.R. Martin’s “Fire & Blood,” the series, set 200 years before the events of “Game of Thrones,” tells the story of House Targaryen.
Season two returning cast: Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Eve Best, Steve Toussaint, Fabien Frankel, Ewan Mitchell, Tom Glynn-Carney, Sonoya Mizuno, and Rhys Ifans. Additional returning cast includes Harry Collett, Bethany Antonia, Phoebe Campbell, Phia Saban, Jefferson Hall, and Matthew Needham.
Season two new cast: Abubakar Salim as Alyn of Hull, Gayle Rankin as Alys Rivers, Freddie Fox as Ser Gwayne Hightower, Simon Russell Beale as Ser Simon Strong, Clinton Liberty as Addam of Hull, Jamie Kenna as Ser Alfred Broome, Kieran Bew as Hugh, Tom Bennett as Ulf, Tom Taylor as Lord Cregan Stark, and Vincent Regan as Ser Rickard Thorne.
Season two credits: Co-Creator/Executive Producer, George R.R. Martin; Co-Creator/Showrunner/Executive Producer, Ryan Condal; Executive Producers Sara Hess, Alan Taylor, Melissa Bernstein, Kevin de la Noy, Loni Peristere, Vince Gerardis. Based on George R.R. Martin’s “Fire & Blood.”

The African continent is ripe with unrealised potential. Its people, their abilities, and their powerful relationships promise a wealth of future achievements if only they can be fully actualised. The key to the people of our continent becoming all that they might be, lies in one singular intervention: education.

Fortunately, education is widely prized across our continent, and it is a shared aspiration amongst almost all Africans. In this spirit, as the continent prepares to celebrate the founding of the African Union (AU) on Africa Day on May 25, the AU has chosen “The Year of Education” as its theme for 2024.

Expressed more thoroughly, the theme is “Educate an African fit for the 21st Century: Building resilient education systems for increased access to inclusive, lifelong, quality, and relevant learning in Africa.” 

Given the key concern of “resilient education” in this theme, it’s useful to consider how organisations are addressing Africa’s education challenge, and how they are ensuring the skills that students gain is directly relevant to their future development, and that of the continent. 

Relevant training

One such organisation is the MultiChoice Talent Factory (MTF), an initiative by pan-African entertainment company MultiChoice. MTF consists of three offerings – MTF Academies in major African capitals provide hands-on, relevant training for aspiring TV and film professionals; the MTF portal, allows professionals to network and find work opportunities, while MTF masterclasses offer an ongoing programme of professional development.

Most influential of these MTF offerings are the MTF Academies in Nairobi, Lagos and Lusaka. The Academies equip aspiring industry professionals with the crucial “sustainable education” it takes to thrive in the rapidly changing film-and-television sector.

Now in its sixth year in Rest of Africa, the programme offers a comprehensive, fully paid 12-month industry-readiness course that gives participants the invaluable opportunity to learn from industry experts in fields such as scripting, directing, producing, cinematography, commissioning and editing. 

This focus on hands-on experience ensures that graduates emerge not just qualified, but with practical, proven ability to work in the sector. This focus on directly relevant skills gives the industry a pipeline of trained professionals entering the job market, and also gives the hundreds of young people emerging from MTF Academies every year, a good chance of finding careers. 

An MTF survey has found that around 92% of MTF Academy graduates go on to work in the creative sector. Many of these young professionals go on to careers at MultiChoice, which bills itself as “Africa’s most-loved storyteller”.

Unlocking youth potential

This level of absorption demonstrates another benefit of education in the African development journey: it unlocks the massive potential of the continent’s youthful population.

MTF Academy students consistently win awards at film festivals, have their work shown on major platforms and go on to great career success. 

These successes underscore how directly relevant, industry-focused training will rapidly generate real benefits. The success that MultiChoice has found by training its own industry professionals offers an instructive case for corporates in other sectors.

This is especially true in Africa, where the continent’s enormous cohort of young people represents its greatest global opportunity – but only if this opportunity is converted through education. 

Education is what will transform Africa’s 400 million young people aged between 15 and 35 into a generation of doctors, lawyers, financiers, engineers and media professionals. 

In the words of the African Union, “… such a youthful population calls for an increase of investment in economic and social development factors, in order to improve the development index of African nations.”

The MTF training programme is an intentional development initiative in this vein. It is designed to create careers for aspiring film and televisions professionals, but also to directly address the needs of MultiChoice, the media sector, and the African economy. 

Cultural impact

Another critical value proposition of this pipeline from training to production in the creative sector is its cultural impact. Training African creatives equips them to tell African stories. 

As dynamic, highly skilled African creatives go on to produce content that resonates powerfully with African audiences, it drives engagement, enriches the businesses and allows Africa’s people to see themselves reflected in powerful entertainment content with world-class entertainment values. 

It’s an innovative approach to the idea of “educating Africa”, in that it equips Africans to educate other Africans – culturally and spiritually – through the telling of African stories. These African stories also allow Africa to show the rest of the world the power of its history and the talent of its people, as our productions take their rightful place on global content platforms.

As Africa Day draws near, this dual approach to African self-actualisation has never been more relevant. The continent is developing the abilities of its people through education and training; but also enhancing its standing in the world, by producing goods, services and creative output that will add value, entertain and inspire. To educate the world about the power of Africa. 

The eight-episode second season of HBO Original drama series House of the Dragon debuts in the US on Sunday 16 June – and will be available on M-Net (DStv Channel 101) Express from the US at 1am on Monday 17 June and make its prime-time premiere at 7pm on the same day. The series will also be available on Showmax.

Westeros is on the brink of a bloody civil war with the Green and Black Councils fighting for King Aegon and Queen Rhaenyra, respectively. As each side believes theirs to be the rightful seat on the Iron Throne, the Green and Black trailers reflect those two perspectives in separate yet complementary halves of the same story. For global audiences, “All Must Choose” their side of House Targaryen as the realm fractures in season two.
Logline: Based on George R.R. Martin’s “Fire & Blood,” the series, set 200 years before the events of “Game of Thrones,” tells the story of House Targaryen.
Season two returning cast: Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Eve Best, Steve Toussaint, Fabien Frankel, Ewan Mitchell, Tom Glynn-Carney, Sonoya Mizuno, and Rhys Ifans. Additional returning cast includes Harry Collett, Bethany Antonia, Phoebe Campbell, Phia Saban, Jefferson Hall, and Matthew Needham.
Season two new cast: Abubakar Salim as Alyn of Hull, Gayle Rankin as Alys Rivers, Freddie Fox as Ser Gwayne Hightower, Simon Russell Beale as Ser Simon Strong, Clinton Liberty as Addam of Hull, Jamie Kenna as Ser Alfred Broome, Kieran Bew as Hugh, Tom Bennett as Ulf, Tom Taylor as Lord Cregan Stark, and Vincent Regan as Ser Rickard Thorne.
Season two credits: Co-Creator/Executive Producer, George R.R. Martin; Co-Creator/Showrunner/Executive Producer, Ryan Condal; Executive Producers Sara Hess, Alan Taylor, Melissa Bernstein, Kevin de la Noy, Loni Peristere, Vince Gerardis. Based on George R.R. Martin’s “Fire & Blood.”

Pick your side of House Targaryen on your DStv or stream it on Showmax, each week from Monday, 17 June 2024. 

The anticipation is palpable as the 10th edition of the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards, scheduled for 11 May 2024, in Lagos approaches. Viewers are invited to witness the splendour of this prestigious event, broadcasting live on Africa Magic from 3pm on DStv and GOtv.

Reflecting the rich diversity and innovation of African cinema and television, this year’s awards promise some thrilling adjustments with the introduction of exciting new categories such as Best Actor and Best Actress in leading or supporting roles. With a total of 27 categories, including 16 non-voting and 9 audience voting categories, along with two esteemed recognition awards the Lifetime Achievement and Trailblazer Awards – there’s ample opportunity to honour exceptional African talent.

Kicking off the festivities with a prime view of the red carpet hosted by celebrity personalities Toke Makinwa and Uti Nwachukwu viewers can watch the continent’s biggest stars strut their stuff in dazzling creations from some of Africa’s most talented fashion designers from 3pm before settling into the prestigious awards at 6pm.

The main award will be hosted by renowned television host and current host of Nigerian Idols IK Osakioduwa and will feature musical performances from Nigeria’s popular performers Seyi Sodimu, Shaffy Bello, Adekunle Gold, KCee, Chike and Congolese soukous singer Awilo Logomba throughout the awards ceremony.

Save the date for this Saturday, 11 May, and tune in for the live broadcast across all Africa Magic Channels on DStv and GOtv. Don’t miss this remarkable celebration of African creativity and achievement!

Keep your DStv subscription activated to ensure you don’t miss the star-studded event! To upgrade, reconnect or manage your subscription download the MyDStv app on your mobile app store or visit www.dstv.com to join in on the excitement and manage your account. You can also catch all the action while on the move. Stream all content on the DStv Stream app by downloading it from the app store.