Caught on Camera: Africa’s Film Industry in the Spotlight

This month, Africa Month, Netflix has carved out an exclusive space for African content, dubbed, “from Cairo to Cape”. The globe’s leading streaming service is serving up a menu of African content to its 220 million[1] subscribers with the likes of old school classic series, MTV Shuga; Kambili – The Whole 30 Yards, a 2020 romantic drama from Nigeria and South Africa’s Blood and Water. The time for African narratives to be told by African storytellers has never been more pronounced and at Songhai Advisory, we’re excited to announce our very own line- up of compelling conversations over the coming weeks and months with creatives such as playwright/actor/media practitioner, JOT Agyeman; Bright Yeboah, COO and Co-Founder at WiFlix, entertainment streaming service which prides itself in African content for the masses, and which recently reached its 1 million subscriber mark and GeneRa, events organiser behind the global #Ghana#Feels#Good campaign.

UNESCO estimates that the continent has the potential to create 20 million jobs and generate USD20bn annually through its film industry, yet a confluence of factors, such as regulatory challenges, a lack of coordinated policies, infrastructural hurdles, a dearth of skills development programmes, inter alia, are significant barriers, meaning that the continent is only fulfilling  a quarter of its potential[2]. 

But the digital revolution is a game-changer. It is now cheaper to produce and distribute content, with creatives using inexpensive gadgets to reach consumers via low cost or free channels such as YouTube or Facebook. With mobile phone penetration rates above 65% across every region of the continent (with North Africa leading with 110%, followed by West Africa at 97%), the dissemination of content on mobile phones is happening apace. While policymakers have been slow on the uptake – only 55% of countries have a film policy on the continent- exciting collaborations are taking place. For instance, the training of digital arts students from north and francophone Africa through NET-INFO, and the celebrated Triggerfish animation studio from South Africa offering online courses for free.

We are an African-owned and managed firm delivering local knowledge supporting transformative and sustainable strategic decision-making over the past decade. To find out more about the creative industries in Africa or other aspects of our work, do get in touch ; we would love to hear from you! advisory@songhaiadvisory.com

[1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/250934/quarterly-number-of-netflix-streaming-subscribers-worldwide/#:~:text=Netflix%20subscribers%20count%20worldwide%202011%2D2022&text=Netflix%20had%20approximately%20221.64%20million,the%20first%20quarter%20of%202022.

[2] https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000379165.locale=en

*Photo credit: Steven Van on Unsplash.