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Wananchi Group Continues to Innovate its Globally Competitive Home Entertainment Services to East Africa Written by: Matthew Staff Produced by: Kiron Chavda 3
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Finding differentiators in a saturated communications and home entertainment market is not easy, but the Kenyanbased operator is leveraging its quality offering and strong homegrown principles to reach its goals
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ananchi Group’s ambitious and increasingly successful services to the retail and corporate markets in East and Southern Africa have been built on the principles of consumer inclusion and homegrown quality, with the company now looking to expand further via three core facets of the organisation. Built largely upon its Zuku brand, the home entertainment and communications company has become one of the key market players in the region across direct-to-home fibre network services, a unique satellite television offering and its business services arm which provides connectivity to enterprises across the region. Beginning operations in 2008, the past 18 months have been especially significant in the company’s rise to prominence which Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Richard Alden attributes to a well-formed strategy.
Wananchi instills pride in its employees
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“It has been about being able to demonstrate the clarity of our strategy to gain support from our shareholders and our customers who can clearly see that this company is one to take seriously” – Richard Alden, Chief Executive Officer, Wananchi Group
“Our three-pronged strategy, as well as our business model and objectives, are clear and have been executed very well, leading our shareholders – both local and international – to invest more money into the business to help us grow even further,” he explained. “It has been about being able to demonstrate the clarity of our strategy to gain support from our shareholders and our customers who can clearly see that this company is one to take seriously.” Unique Selling Propositions One of Wananchi’s key differentiators is its footprint and the subsequent portion of the
Key Personnel
Richard Alden CEO
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Building the African Internet. SEACOM was established in 2007 by a group of African investors with the objective of bringing the global Internet to Africa. Two years later, SEACOM launched the first broadband submarine cable system along the East African coastline linking South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya and Mozambique with major Internet connection hubs in Europe and Asia. Today, SEACOM has evolved from being a single cable operator into Africa’s foremost network service provider and ICT enabler. The company offers resilient and scalable data services across multiple submarine cable systems and diverse terrestrial networks to mobile and fixed-line network carriers, ISPs and other ICT service providers.
SEACOM’s Internet Protocol network is now the largest and most advanced on the continent and is designed using advanced fiber optics that can grow and scale as Africa continues to develop. SEACOM prides itself in ensuring that its customers realise the intrinsic value of its network, by providing them with tailor-made communication solutions and world-class customer service. The company’s service offering includes dedicated private line transmission services, flexible Ethernet services as well as resilient global and regional IP transit services.
SEACOM’s mission is clear; to bring affordable data connectivity and its associated benefits to all of Africa’s people.
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population it can reach out to. Casting aside misguided notions about the readiness of parts of Africa to embrace innovative new technologies, the company has successfully brought its three pillars of services to the everexpanding middle class market, while some competitors continue to focus on a smaller, wealthier section of the region. “Affordability remains the main challenge so if you price yourself only in the region of the three or four percent who can afford high-end services, then you’re missing out on a great number of people,” Alden said. Zuku Fiber is arguably the product benefiting most from Wananchi’s all-encompassing philosophy; the triple play internet, phone and
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Wanachi Group event
SEACOM
SEACOM launched Africa’s first broadband submarine cable system along the eastern and southern coastlines in 2009, bringing with it a vast supply of high quality and affordable Internet bandwidth. Since then, SEACOM has moved beyond being a cable operator to become a major pan-African service provider, offering a full suite of resilient and scalable data services that allow Africa’s growing ICT community to develop and evolve. Website: www.seacom.mu
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CastleNet Bridges the World and Your Family
DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem
CastleNet is a professional OEM/ODM vendor focusing on Broadband CPE manufacturing. We are one of the leading companies in DOCSIS3.0 / EURODOCSIS3.0 Cable Modem industry and ranks as top five Cable Modem suppliers in Taiwan.
www.castlenet.com.tw inquiry@castlenet.com.tw
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television platform providing speeds of up to 50 Mbps and built over 1,500 kilometres. Running parallel to this, Zuku Satellite TV is the fastest growing platform in the brand’s armoury and currently covers 32 countries to bring its unique and locally relevant content to millions of people on the continent. Continuous updates to this offering have recently comprised HD channels such as Zuku Sports HD and Zuku Max HD while the focus on providing different and more appealing content always remains at the forefront of Wananchi’s strategy. Finally, Wananchi’s corporate division, SimbaNET has become a leading provider of VSAT and data solutions to corporations in East
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Team building excercises
CASTLENET
Established in 1998, CastleNet is a professional OEM/ODM manufacturer of network communication equipment. We focus on development, manufacturing and sales of products including Cable Modem, Powerline Communication, Notebook and Networking Modules, and Digital Home Applications. Our products are mainly supplied to Europe, Japan and Korea, where the quality and creditability have been well acknowledged by the network communication industry and clients. Website: www.castlenet.com.tw
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Wananchi has a strong team ethic
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Africa, paying special attention to the strength of infrastructure in the region to ensure the most effective network and communications speeds possible for burgeoning and established enterprises alike. “In everything we do, the competition is fierce here,� Alden said. “In the paid television market alone, there are six different operators so it requires us to be quite specialised and focused on being different in order for consumers to tell us apart from the others.
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“Investments into building fibre networks directly into consumers’ homes, or into infrastructure for businesses, or building and acquiring new and locally relevant television content all gives us an advantage and a lot of strong USPs.” Quality over quantity As part of Wananchi Group’s recent rise to market success, a huge focus has been placed on the internal structuring of the company and, in particular, to the people within the organisation. In the early years of the business’ development, there wasn’t always the lure to bring in the most skilled individuals to capitalise on the established and reputable business model, but that has all changed now, with Wananchi fast becoming an employer of choice in the region. “Over the past year we have been able to get a lot more people with deeper skill sets than the company could afford to access in the past,” Alden said. “We are now getting people to focus on very specific areas of expertise and then bringing in new people to supplement that, all the way down, through from management to the people on the ground.” This begins during the hiring process and the most skilled local people in the industry now recognise Wananchi as a serious player in the market, subsequently bringing their high calibre attributes into the fold. Alden continued: “While it is inevitable that the
“Investments into building fibre networks directly into consumers’ homes, or into infrastructure for businesses, or building and acquiring new and locally relevant television content all gives us an advantage and a lot of strong USPs” – Richard Alden
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numbers of people within the business will grow, I’m not so interested in expanding the size of the workforce. “We are now attracting the cream of the local crop and some extremely strong talent, and I have always said that the key thing is about quality, not quantity, of those people.” Expansion plans Starting out as the first internet service provider in Kenya, Wananchi has evolved to become East Africa’s leading home entertainment operator, and a fully vertically integrated media and telecoms group; a success story which Alden puts down to local dedication and subsequent shareholder support.
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“We are now attracting the cream of the local crop and some extremely strong talent, and I have always said that the key thing is about quality, not quantity, of those people” – Richard Alden
VERIMATRIX INC
Verimatrix specializes in securing and enhancing revenue for multinetwork, multi-screen digital TV services around the globe. The award-winning and independently audited Verimatrix Video Content Authority System (VCAS™) and ViewRight® solutions enable cable, satellite, terrestrial, IPTV and OTT operators, including the Wananchi Group, to cost-effectively extend their networks and enable new business models. Website: http://bit.do/verimatrix
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Kenyacam by Camusat, the partner chosen by Wananchi to manage FTTHX operation and triple play for Wananchi Group.
Camusat is a specialized in turnkey deployment and management of telecommunications networks. The group is present in 33 countries and counts 2100 employees. Its business lines include: · Telecom sites construction & installation · Power systems & renewable energy · Equipment installation & commissioning · Fiber optics · Managed services and maintenance.
The network Developer Emmanuel Fresco / Regional Managing director East Africa
efresco@camusat.com
www.camusat.com
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“There are very few companies in this part of the world that are successfully raising huge amounts of capital from a range of shareholders that are both local and international,” he said. “Some people see investments in this region as too risky leaving the vast majority of companies without funding, but what we’ve been able to do is take small steps forward by demonstrating that we can do what we say we can do and by giving customers and shareholders confidence through the presentation of our strategies. “We now expect to expand into additional geographical markets. The analogue switch off in Africa, for example, means that there has never been more awareness of pay TV and we expect to capitalise on this.”
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Richard speaking at a Wanachi event
CAMUSAT
CAMUSAT is one of the market leaders in the implementation of telecom infrastructures and one of the most experienced network developers with a history which starts back in the late 40’s. In the today’s extremely dynamic technological environment, our committed mission is to help the telecom actors to efficiently build and optimize their networks development by integrating the traditional telecom technologies with the most innovative know-how from adjoining fields. Website: www.camusat.com
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Best-of-Suite Broadband Billing, Customer Management & Provisioning GLDS offers broadband providers market-leading billing, customer management and provisioning solutions covering virtually all broadband services including Digital, FTTH, & IPTV, VOD, VoIP, WISP. GLDS has installed software for more than 400 operators in 44 countries worldwide, offering “tier-one� features at significantly lower prices.
+1 760.602.1900
sales@glds.com
www.glds.com
Leading the way in Electric Power Generation LEROY-SOMER, the worldleading specialist in industrial alternators and drive systems, designs and manufactures highly innovative eco-technological solutions to serve the industrial and large-scale commercial sector markets. www.leroy-somer.com
America - Europe - India - China/Asia
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Wananchi attracts the best in local talent
This proactive ethos and approach to continuous improvement once again applies itself in different ways across the three components of Wananchi but the underlying principles remain the same, and have translated into enhanced market positioning and geographical expansion. A local success story Local is a key word in Alden’s assessment of the now flourishing Wananchi team, with the company’s regional commitment very important to the reputation that has been built over the past six years. He therefore believes the real success story of the company to be the indigenous nature of Wananchi Group, ensuring that both he and
Operations at Wanachi
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“The people who come in to work for this business every day are very proud of what they’re doing” – Richard Alden
Positivity is engrained into the Wananchi philosophy
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the entire team of employees can be proud of working for a company in East Africa providing services every bit as comprehensive and advanced as those seen in the rest of the world. “This is a homegrown African business and 99 percent of the people who work here are African,”
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Company Information INDUSTRY
Technology HEADQUARTERS
Nairobi, Kenya FOUNDED
2008 EMPLOYEES
More than 700, plus indirect employees REVENUE
Not disclosed
the CEO concluded. “The people who come in to work for this business every day are very proud of what they’re doing. “There’s a lot of talk around the world about African constraints but we’re building a first world business here and every day they come to work, they are developing this part of the world and should be very proud of their achievements “The people on the ground can hold their heads up high knowing that what they’re doing is the same as what’s being done in the western world and is being done in a very positive way for the African continent.”
PRODUCTS/ SERVICES
Home Entertainment
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WANANCHI GROUP Gateway Business Park, Mombasa Road, Nairobi, Kenya Tel. +254 719028159 investor-relations@wananchi.com www.wananchi.com