Africa’s streaming ecosystem continues to expand rapidly. There are more than 560 platforms now operating across the continent. A new report by Fabric News highlights both the opportunities and challenges facing the industry, showing that while local production is rising, foreign platforms and content still dominate Africa’s screens.
Two-thirds (67%) of Africa’s streaming platforms operate on a single business model, while 33% use hybrid approaches such as combining subscriptions with ads.Subscriptions remain the most popular model used by 56% of services. Free access also accounts for 43%
The Big Three Platforms
Global players continue to dominate distribution across Africa.
- Netflix remains the only service present in all 60 African countries, making it the market leader.
- Prime Video is available across almost the entire continent.
- Disney+, meanwhile, is available in just 13 countries, focusing on large markets such as Egypt, South Africa, and Morocco.
- HBO Max (rebranded Max) is absent from Africa altogether.
Showmax is Africa’s strongest competitor. Founded in South Africa in 2015, it now operates in 44 countries and is repositioning itself as a pan-African platform.
Over 60,000 unique titles are available to African viewers. However, just 2% are local productions. Foreign content makes up 97%, with 1% coming from international co-productions involving African countries.
Egypt leads Africa in local streaming productions with 449 titles. It is followed by Nigeria with 447. South Africa contributes 175. For co-productions, South Africa (139 titles) tops the list, followed by Egypt (130) and Nigeria (46).
Foreign countries remain the biggest suppliers of streaming content to Africa. The United States has 27,000 titles available. In second place is India with 10,000 titles and the UK contributes around 6,000. Egypt has fewer than 500 titles available continent-wide.
The most popular genre across foreign, local, and co-produced content is drama. Thrillers and documentaries dominate foreign and co-produced titles. Comedy is strong in African local productions.
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