A+E appoints African channels boss

A+E Networks has named a new general manager for Africa.

Yusuf Nabee will take up the newly-created role on June 1, charged with securing new distribution for A+E’s regional channels portfolio and creating new commercial opportunities.

He will be based out of Johannesburg, where he will build out a full local team.

Nabee joins from ReelAfrican, an aggregator that makes African content available around the world, where he was CEO. He has worked at South African broadcaster SABC, where he planned for new DTT channel launches, and was a principal consultant for KPMG.

He will report to Nicolas Eglau, A+E Networks UK COO and GM, Nordics, Benelux region and CEEMEA (central and eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa).

Eglau joined A+E from RTL in August last year, soon after Dean Possenniskie replaced Tom Davidson as managing director for EMEA.

A+E’s presence in Africa includes distribution of the History, Crime+Investigation and Lifetime channels on the DStv platform. The Johannesburg office opened last year, and local commissioning has begun, in the form of Pawn Stars South Africa and Four Wedding South Africa.

“I am very pleased to be joining the A+E Networks’ family,” said Nabee. “I am particularly excited at the opportunity to build on the base that A+E has already established in Africa, by expanding the company’s presence across the continent and bringing more local flavour to its existing brands and content.”

“Yusuf is great addition to A+E Networks’ senior team,” said Eglau. “We are confident that his proven track-record of launching new channels, commissioning content and increasing audience share in the competitive African TV landscape will enable A+E Networks to gain further scale in this exciting and important market.”