Mr. John Ugbe, MBA, fNIEEE, MNSE, fNIBM, MNIM, is the first Nigerian and servingManaging Director, MultiChoice Nigeria, the premier pay entertainment company in the country. His appointment, announced as part of a general restructuring at MultiChoice Group, is a loud testimony to his business ingenuity, managerial astuteness and ability to steer the company on the path of incremental growth.

Ugbe joined the MultiChoice Group in 1998 as a help desk analyst. Within 12years of his joining the company, he had demonstrated his astuteness as a manager and his irrevocable commitment to personal and corporate growth. He was named Chief Executive Officer of the company on Friday, October 25, 2018, after serving as Managing Director for seven years.

Ugbe used his innovativeness to bring positive and profitable changes into the business operations of the premier pay entertainment company.

The Electrical and Electronics Engineering (Electronics and Computer Engineering Technology) graduate from the Federal University of Technology (FUTO) in Owerri, South-Eastern Nigeria, has spent the past 25 years empowering women and youth, giving minorities a voice, leading pan-African innovation, and working with internal and external teams to build one of Africa’s most transformational media, entertainment and technology organizations. He also has a Master’s in Business Administration, from the University of Liverpool. He is a fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the Nigerian Institute of Brand Management, as well as a member of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, the Council for Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria and Nigerian Institute of Management.

Under his watch, MultiChoice rolled out owned channels in three local Nigerian languages, introduced a low-end mass focused digital terrestrial pay TV, known as Gotv which supports Nollywood, the country’s film industry with annual film budgets of up to $35M, a multi-layered talent academy, and a pan-African, Oscar-styled viewers’ choice honours event – Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA). A well-praised initiative called ‘Sabi Men’, has seen over 10,000 youth recruited and taken off the streets, in a country where over 33% of the youth population are unemployed.

Ugbe is exceptional in the field because of his multi-dimensional ability of spotting opportunities in the most unlikely of situations. His contributions to the growth of MultiChoice in particular, and the continent in general, continue to attract commendation in form ofawards, recognitions, fellowships, and prizes.

Mr. Ugbe is the recipient of about a dozen awards and commendations personally, and under his leadership,  the organisation has bagged more than 20 awards for various initiatives which include but are not limited to: Marketing World Award – Best Company in Customer Care Marketing World Award – Pay TV Brand of the Year; Brand Health – Most Trusted Pay TV Brand; Brand Journalists Association of Nigeria (BJAN) – Most Impressive Customer Service Pay TV Brand; Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry – Award for Excellence in Pay TV Services; Rising Global Sports Foundation Award of Excellence in Recognition of its Contribution to Sports Development in Nigeria, SERAs Award (CSR) – Most Improved Company; and MARKETING EDGE Award – Innovative Terrestrial PayTV Service of the year (GOtv)

Based on his outstanding contributions to the media, technology, and entertainment industry in Nigeria and his strong knowledge and distinguished expertise in the industry, Mr. John Ugbe is a well sought-after speaker, and advisor. He has honoured over 10 engagements in the past year alone, including the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria Women Conference, the Nigerian Entertainment Conference, Ogilvy’s Lagos Business Cocktail, BrandPower – Golden Icons Awards, from which he received an award for Youth Empowerment and was named Thought Leader par excellence, joining the club of respected African leaders and captains of industry to be so decorated. In 2014, he was a delegate to the Nigeria Economic Summit.

He also has the honour of chairing and advising several committees in both public and private sectors of Nigeria and in other parts of the world, where he is regarded as a keen thought leader especially in the area of digitalization, local content, corporate governance, technology-as-a-solution, youth and women empowerment, and entrepreneurship.

Ugbe has built up proven expertise in raising awareness and the savings culture of minorities and underserved markets with a view to meeting longer term goals. He has cut across cultures, tribes, politics, and generations and made it known to many Africans and beyond that we need to act as one race or tribe in order to succeed.

MultiChoice Nigeria, which Ugbe leads launched the first digital satellite broadcasting service on November 5, 1993, and has, since then, been offering premium entertainment services consisting general entertainment, news, information, sports and education channels through DStv and GOtv.

Through these channels, subscribers are exposed to the exciting world of multichannel television, with a collection of over one hundred and forty (140) of the best international and local television and audio channels showcased with the best possible picture and sound quality.

The company has made significant investments towards the growth of the Nigerian economy to the tune of N55 billion (nearly $350 million) through investment in the production and procurement of television content (N32.4bn), technology (N21bn) and people development (N1.7bn).

MultiChoice has also invested over N9billion ($58 million in outside broadcast (OB) vans and commissioned Africa’s first high definition (HD) studio, training, production and broadcasting coverage. This amount excludes the over N70 million ($450,000 spent on staff and value chain development and training and approximately N150 million ($1 million) is also invested on training in television production skills. With these figures, it is estimated that since its inception in 1993, Multichoice has invested over N140 billion in Nigeria’s economy