All Eyes On Africa: Global Streamers & Local Players Are Toughing It Out In The Next Frontier Of Growth — Mipcom Cannes Special

deadline.com:

Africa is one of the fastest growing continents on the planet so it’s no wonder that global streamers have viewed the vast territory as the last frontier of growth in recent years.

A young population coupled with a growing middle class and increasing internet connectivity (albeit the latter very slowly) has seen companies like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Canal+ battle it out with more established local players such as MultiChoice’s SVoD platform Showmax.

According to a report from Digital TV Research, Africa is expected to reach 18 million SVoD subscriptions by 2029, up from 8 million in 2023, bucking the U.S.

trend. These are encouraging figures for global players who are already well established in Western and European countries. While there are of course challenges (more on that later), what has become clear is that in  order to harness even a portion of Africa’s 1.2 billion population, you have to give the audience what it wants: local content.