Madagascar’s Richest Man Plans Radio, TV Stations in Nigeria
- Ylias Akbaraly's Thomson Broadcast is negotiating a €400 million deal to build radio and TV infrastructure for four Nigerian broadcasting institutions.
- Thomson Broadcast CEO Stéphane Bollon met Nigeria's Information Minister Mohammed Idris in Abuja and Paris as talks progressed over several months.
- The company hopes to secure Nigerian government approval during French President Emmanuel Macron's planned state visit to Nigeria.
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Legit.ng journalist Dave Ibemere has over a decade of experience in business journalism, with in-depth knowledge of the Nigerian economy, stocks, and general market trends.
Ylias Akbaraly, widely regarded as Madagascar's wealthiest individual, is seeking a €400 million ($449 million) contract to build radio and television broadcasting infrastructure across Nigeria through his French company, Thomson Broadcast.
According to a report by Billionaires.Africa, the company is seeking final approval from the Nigerian government before the end of October, when French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to make a state visit to Nigeria.
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Thomson Broadcast CEO Stéphane Bollon is expected to travel with Macron.
Talks between Thomson Broadcast and Nigeria's Information Minister Mohammed Idris have continued for several months, following a memorandum of understanding signed in 2025.
Bollon visited Abuja in June and helped arrange part of Idris's visit to Paris in September, during which the minister met Éléonore Caroit, a junior minister at France's foreign ministry, and Jérémie Robert, Macron's adviser on Africa.
Four Nigerian institutions at the centre of the deal
The proposed contract would cover four Nigerian broadcasting institutions: the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Voice of Nigeria (VON) and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).
Nigeria has been working to complete its transition from analogue to digital terrestrial television since missing the international deadline in 2015. The country launched a pilot in Jos in 2016 and has continued the transition in phases.
Thomson Broadcast would still need to raise financing, primarily from private lenders, before the project could proceed, even if the government approves the deal.
France's ambassador to Nigeria, Marc Fonbaustier, announced Macron's visit in July. The two presidents are expected to discuss bilateral cooperation on trade, security, agriculture and culture.
Fonbaustier previously served as France's ambassador to Guinea, where he oversaw a €66 million ($74 million) Thomson Broadcast contract to digitise television and radio broadcasting and build transmission sites. Signed in March 2022, the project was backed by French state investment bank Bpifrance and the French Treasury. After years of delays, work was expected to begin in the coming weeks, according to the report.
Who is Ylias Akbaraly?
Akbaraly controls Thomson Broadcast through Redland, the holding company overseeing his family's Sipromad Group. Redland employs more than 3,000 people directly and indirectly, with operations across Africa, France, the United States and the United Arab Emirates.
His father, Sermamod Akbaraly, founded Sipromad in 1972. Ylias took over the business in 2000 after studying management in Paris and earning a master's degree in marketing from the University of California, Berkeley.
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He has since expanded the group into nearly 20 companies spanning manufacturing, tourism, aviation, real estate, renewable energy, agribusiness and broadcasting.
Sipromad entered broadcasting in August 2018 by acquiring the television and radio business of France's Arelis Broadcast. The business was subsequently renamed and rebranded as Thomson Broadcast, BusinessInsider reports.
In 2022, Thomson Broadcast acquired US transmitter manufacturer GatesAir, expanding its presence in the American market. GatesAir was sold to Saothair Capital Partners in October 2025.
FG announces deadline for final analogue TV switch-off
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the federal government has announced December 2028 as the target date for completing the country's full transition from analogue to digital television broadcasting.
Charles Ebuebu, Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), confirmed the timeline in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, noting that the shutdown would be rolled out in stages.
On the economic case for the switch-off, the NBC chief said the radio frequency spectrum currently occupied by analogue broadcasters represents a significant national resource.
Source: Legit.ng
