Hallo,
Victoria from Techpoint here,
Here’s what I’ve got for you today:
- Netflix’s Warner Bros. deal puts DStv in crisis
- Richard Eradiri’s accidental journey into AI
- POS agents must register by Jan 1, says CAC
Netflix’s Warner Bros. deal puts DStv in crisis
Netflix’s massive $72 billion bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery has sent shockwaves through Africa’s pay-TV market, especially for MultiChoice. The deal, announced last Friday, immediately raised alarms because Warner Bros. Discovery is MultiChoice’s biggest supplier of premium international content. And with negotiations already strained, this takeover has thrown DStv and Showmax into their biggest content crisis in years.
Before Netflix swooped in, MultiChoice had already warned subscribers that 12 popular channels, including CNN, Cartoon Network, HGTV, Food Network, TNT Africa, and Investigation Discovery, could disappear at the end of December. Talks with Warner Bros. Discovery hit a wall over renewal fees, and under new owner Canal+, MultiChoice has been aggressively cutting costs. The last-minute negotiation marathon continued until late Thursday, December 4, 2025, but Netflix’s announcement changed the entire playing field, per MyBroadband.
What makes things worse for DStv and Showmax is not just the potential loss of channels but what Netflix stands to gain. If the deal is cleared, likely in the third quarter of 2026, Netflix will fold Warner Bros. and HBO’s massive content library into its platform. That means everything from Game of Thrones, The Sopranos, and The Big Bang Theory to House of the Dragon, The Last of Us, and the entire DC Universe could become Netflix exclusives. These are titles that currently define Showmax’s premium appeal.
While Netflix plans to spin off Warner’s linear TV business into a separate public company called Discovery Global, which may give MultiChoice a shot at retaining some live channels, the real fight is over on-demand streaming. Showmax’s Best of HBO section alone had 191 series as of December 7. Losing even half of that catalogue would dramatically shrink its value. And DStv is already set to lose four other channels — BET Africa, CBS AMC Networks, CBS Justice, and MTV Base — by year-end due to Paramount Africa shutting down.
Industry watchers say this blow could trigger a wave of cancellations if MultiChoice doesn’t react quickly. Some experts believe an “immediate” discount may be unavoidable, while others predict a full package shake-up in early 2026. Many subscribers hope Canal+ will simplify the sprawling subscription structure altogether. But one thing is clear: Netflix’s move has put MultiChoice in its most vulnerable position in years, and the next few months will determine how badly it gets hit.
Richard Eradiri’s accidental journey into AI
Richard Perebonilado Eradiri didn’t plan to end up in tech, but a terrible experience with a developer pushed him straight into software development and eventually into building an AI startup. Today, the Zoology graduate from the University of Ibadan is the co-founder and CEO of AI Examiner and the guy behind some of the high-security systems used by major Nigerian banks. Not bad for someone who once just wanted to figure out why his action figures couldn’t fly.
His love for tech started early. As a kid, he was the type who played with the family desktop, the kind you had to cover with cloth after use. By nine, he was already uploading videos on YouTube. In secondary school, while others treated computer class like a joke, Richard was building websites and getting paid lunch money for helping classmates finish their assignments. Even though he studied science later, his curiosity for how things worked never left.
But his real turning point came in 2019. He had raised about $8,000 for a product idea and hired a developer who vanished with the money and delivered nothing. That experience stung, and instead of giving up, Richard taught himself to code. After graduating in 2020, he took the slow-and-steady path, six months of learning, then an internship, and then the real climb into tech.
Within a few years, he found himself leading teams building internal tools for institutions like Zenith Bank and First Bank. One of his standout projects was a withholding tax application for Zenith that processed more than $1 million last year alone. Working on high-security apps alongside bank security teams became a masterclass in building reliable systems. Those intense years sharpened his skills and set the stage for what came next.
By the time he launched AI Examiner, Richard had become the kind of engineer who could build almost anything from scratch. His journey from Zoology to bank-grade software to AI tools is equal parts unlikely and inspiring. For more on how he spends his time outside work, check out Delight’s After Hours edition on Techpoint Africa.
POS agents must register by Jan 1, says CAC
There’s something about Nigeria’s POS industry — big, messy, fast-moving — that always feels like it’s one policy announcement away from a shakeup. Well, that moment is here again. The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has issued its toughest warning yet, telling all POS operators to register their businesses before January 1, 2026, or get ready to watch their terminals disappear into government custody.
In a public notice released on December 6, 2025, the CAC said it’s tired of the growing number of unregistered POS operators scattered across the country. It called the trend a clear violation of CAMA 2020 and the CBN’s agent banking rules, noting that some fintechs have been enabling “reckless” practices that put citizens’ money at risk. This time, the government isn’t bluffing.
The directive builds on earlier efforts. Back in April 2024, the government had already ordered POS agents to register with the CAC, but the compliance rate never matched the ambition. Now, regulators seem more concerned than ever. With over 1.9 million agents and transactions hitting ₦10.51 trillion in Q1 2025 alone, the system has grown far beyond the neat little ecosystem it used to be.
To tighten things further, the CAC says security agencies will enforce the order nationwide. Unregistered terminals will be seized or shut down, and fintechs that keep onboarding unregistered agents will be reported to the CBN and placed on a watchlist. This push comes months after the CBN restricted PoS terminals to a 10-metre radius of their registered addresses.
For fintechs, this is yet another reminder that rapid expansion comes with regulatory heat. With more than five million active terminals as of March 2025, the pressure to clean up agent networks — fix KYC issues, curb fraud, and improve oversight — is now stronger than ever. January 2026 is only weeks away, and the clock is very loudly ticking.
In case you missed it
- These founders are building a digital solution for Nigeria’s informal retail economy
What I’m watching
- Character Explained in 8 Minutes
- The Thrill of Not Knowing All the Answers | Harini Bhat | TED
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Have a fun weekend!
Victoria Fakiya for Techpoint Africa
