Aon Quartely Magazine

Wananchi Group’s ambitious and
increasingly successful services
to the retail 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 all two core facets of the
organization.
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
fiber network services and a unique
satellite television offering.
Unique Selling Propositions
One of Wananchi’s key differentiators
is its footprint and the subsequent
portion of the 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 services to the
ever-expanding middle class market,
while some competitors continue to
focus on a smaller, wealthier section of
the region.
Zuku Fiber is arguably the product
benefiting most from Wananchi’s allencompassing
- philosophy; the triple
play platform comprising internet,
phone and television providing
speeds of up to 60 Mbps. Running
parallel to this is Zuku Satellite TV
the fastest growing platform in the
brand’s armory 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 consisted of HD
channels while also focusing on
providing different and more
appealing content always remains at
the forefront of Wananchi’s strategy.
Investments into building fiber
networks directly into consumers’
homes, 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
organization.
In the early years of the business’s
development, there wasn’t always
the lure to bring in the most skilled
individuals to capitalize 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 years Wananchi Group
has been able to get a lot more
people with deeper skill sets than the
company could afford to access in the
past. The company is 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.
A local success story
Wananchi Group’s Zuku brand is a
local success story this is due to the
indigenous nature of Wananchi Group,
ensuring that both he and 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.
There’s a lot of talk around the
world about African constraints but
Wananchi Group’s Zuku brand is
actually 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.