Rabat – Ben Amadasun, Netflix Director of Africa originals & acquisitions, told French news agency AFP that Netflix is committed to supporting the African film industry by promoting ‘new talent’ and promoting the training of ‘highly qualified’ professionals to overcome the current limitations on the lack of African produced content.
“We are primarily looking for strong stories that will have the potential to interest our audience. The story has to be truly authentic on what it gives to see the country and its culture,” Amadasun said during the UNESCO conference in Paris on October 5. UNESCO launched the new publication entitled “African Film Industry: Trends, Challenges and Opportunities for Growth” at an event, and revealed a report on the state of the film and audiovisual industry in 54 African countries.
Amadasun cited the film “Oloture,” a story about trafficking prostitutes between Nigeria and Europe; “it was a very strong story that gained a larger audience all over the world,” the same source said.
Africa’s video-on-demand subscriptions are expected to reach over 5 million by the end of 2021, and the figure is expected to triple to 15 million by 2026, according to a new report by Digital TV Research, a London-based business intelligence company.
The same source estimates that Netflix will account for 51% of Africa’s Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD) subscribers by the end of 2021.
According to the latest data, Netflix, the world’s largest premium media streaming platforms, added 28.89 million new subscribers in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa between 2018 and 2020.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and global lockdowns that followed, Netflix has welcomed 15.7 million new subscribers world-wide since the beginning of 2020.
