Naspers aren’t exactly short on cash, so when they appoint a top dog you can be sure that person is making bank.

They would have had to dangle an attractive carrot to get Akash Bhatia on board as the chief financial officer of its Showmax video streaming business, because he does come with a rather impressive CV.

Showmax is about to expand to 36 new countries, taking a stab at the market share currently dominated by Netflix. Here’s more on the man who will head that battle and the service via Fin24:

Bhatia has previously worked for Time Warner’s HBO and Comcast’s NBC Universal…

Africa’s largest pay-TV provider is seeking to win over streaming customers before Netflix gains more of a foothold in Africa, a region that can support more growth compared with mature and slowing markets such as North America and Europe. Showmax was made available to Naspers’s pay-TV customers last month. The service started in August and is available in 65 countries offering a Nollywood section, as well as an African Film section that pulls together classic movies from across the continent.

“What attracted me to Showmax is the growth potential and how they’re tackling expansion,” Bhatia said in an e-mail. “The approach of being locally relevant in everything from content and functionality to payments and partnerships makes a lot of sense.”

Whatever the case one thing rings true – we won’t be watching SABC given half a chance.

[source:fin24]