Madagascan billionaire Ylias Akbaraly, who remodeled his household’s detergent enterprise into a world conglomerate spanning manufacturing, finance, aviation and broadcasting, is looking for a $450 million (€400 million) contract to modernise Nigeria’s tv and radio infrastructure.
The proposed deal is being pursued via Thomson Broadcast, a French broadcasting expertise firm managed by Akbaraly’s Redland Group.
Thomson Broadcast is looking for last approval from the Nigerian authorities, with negotiations anticipated to obtain consideration throughout French President Emmanuel Macron’s go to to Nigeria which has now been postponed.
According to a report by Africa Intelligence, the mission would contain the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Voice of Nigeria (VON) and National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).
Thomson Broadcast’s chief govt, Stéphane Bollon, has reportedly held discussions with Nigeria’s Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, following a memorandum of understanding signed in 2025.
However, the proposed contract has not been finalised, and the corporate would nonetheless have to safe financing to execute the mission.
For Akbaraly, the potential deal represents one other step in increasing a enterprise empire that started with family cleansing merchandise in Madagascar.
Akbaraly grows household detergent enterprise into worldwide conglomerate
Akbaraly’s enterprise roots date again to 1918, when his grandfather, Merally Manjee, migrated from Gujarat, India, to Madagascar and established a buying and selling enterprise.
His father, Sermamod Akbaraly, subsequently based Sipromad in 1972, initially specialising in detergents and different family merchandise.
Born in Madagascar, Akbaraly pursued his training overseas, finding out administration in Paris earlier than acquiring a grasp’s diploma in advertising and marketing from the University of California, Berkeley.
- He returned to the household enterprise within the early Nineties and ultimately took management in 2000, embarking on an enlargement technique that remodeled Sipromad into one among Madagascar’s largest privately held conglomerates.
- Under his management, the enterprise diversified into prescribed drugs, agribusiness, renewable power, tourism, actual property, aviation, finance and telecommunications.
- The group additionally developed pursuits in banking and safety companies, together with investments in Brink’s Madagascar and Banque des Mascareignes Madagascar.
Today, Akbaraly chairs Redland, the holding firm overseeing Sipromad and its worldwide investments.
The group has operations throughout Africa, Europe and different worldwide markets, with greater than 3,000 folks employed immediately and not directly throughout its companies.
Building wealth via diversification
Akbaraly is broadly thought to be Madagascar’s richest businessman, having appeared on the duvet of Forbes Afrique in 2016.
At the time, Forbes valued his stake in Sipromad at roughly $700 million. In a 2019 interview with Forbes Africa, Akbaraly estimated his private fortune at greater than $1 billion.
However, there isn’t any publicly verified present valuation of his internet value. His wealth is basically related to privately held companies, making it tough to find out his fortune via publicly traded share costs.
In 2019, Forbes Africa reported that Akbaraly had remodeled a household enterprise producing roughly $34,000 yearly and using 20 folks right into a conglomerate concentrating on greater than $265 million in income.
More current experiences have positioned Sipromad’s annual income at roughly $350 million, reflecting the enlargement of its operations throughout a number of sectors.
Beyond industrial manufacturing, the group has invested in business actual property, together with the 33-storey Orange Telecommunication Tower in Antananarivo, Madagascar’s capital.
Akbaraly’s enlargement into worldwide broadcasting
One of Akbaraly’s most vital worldwide investments got here in August 2018, when Groupe Sipromad acquired the civilian tv and radio broadcasting operations of France’s Arelis Broadcast.
The acquisition adopted the monetary difficulties of Arelis Broadcast and led to the creation of Phenixya, which continued working beneath the Thomson Broadcast model.
- Through the transaction, Akbaraly expanded into tv transmission programs, digital broadcasting tools and communications infrastructure.
- Thomson Broadcast subsequently strengthened its worldwide presence via tasks involving digital tv and radio infrastructure throughout a number of international locations.
In August 2022, the corporate acquired GatesAir, an American producer of tv and radio transmission tools, increasing Akbaraly’s broadcasting pursuits into the United States.
However, GatesAir was subsequently bought to non-public fairness agency Saothair Capital Partners in October 2025.
The proposed Nigerian contract would signify one other vital worldwide mission for Thomson Broadcast, following its involvement in broadcasting infrastructure growth in international locations together with Guinea and Mali.
Akbaraly’s philantropy and private pursuits
Beyond his enterprise investments, Akbaraly is concerned in philanthropy via the Akbaraly Foundation, which he established along with his spouse, Cinzia Catalfamo Akbaraly, in 2008.
The basis helps healthcare, training and social growth initiatives, significantly programmes addressing breast and gynaecological cancers amongst ladies in Madagascar.
Akbaraly has additionally advocated stronger funding in African industries, arguing that financial diversification and native industrial growth are important to the continent’s long-term development.
