Netflix, which in the world has approx 193 million subscribers, is present in nearly 200 countries: including for five years all those in Africa, a continent in which they live about 1.3 billion people. Although there are no official data, Digital Tv Research estimates they say However, Netflix subscribers in Africa are few, about 1.4 million: just over one in a thousand African. View the growing competition in other markets, such as North American and European, growth in African countries in the coming years could be decisive for Netflix, which has long been aiming to be a global service, with productions spread across the various continents, aimed at audiences with very different tastes. Such as he told Bloomberg, it seems that in order to grow also in Africa Netflix wants to focus on the offer of low-cost subscriptions, designed for use only from mobile devices.
The causes of Netflix’s slow African growth are simple: subscribers are average wealthy people who come from areas where it is relatively easy to have enough internet connection to stream or stream content. In addition, in some countries, particularly those of sub-Saharan Africa, Netflix has to contend with a number of competing companies offering content designed and produced in Africa, often at relatively low cost. The South African MultiChoice Group, which among other things manages the streaming service ShowMax, for example, has nearly 20 million consumers. In addition to poverty and poor internet accessibility, in Africa Netflix and its competitors also have to face the problem of piracy, thanks to which content is viewed without paying.
Netflix, however, has some advantages over the competition. In comparison with its African competitors it is considerably larger, and therefore capable of producing higher-level content, and can sell packages with a wider and more varied offer. Against competitors like Disney +, Amazon Prime Video or AppleTV (some still aren’t in many African countries, but they could get there in the coming years), Netflix can play the experience card: it has existed for more years, has more content and more skills on how to move into new markets.
Bloomberg explains that in this context, “an important playing field will be Nigeria”, which is the largest sub-Saharan economy – as well as the seventh most populous country in the world, with more than 200 million inhabitants – and the headquarters of Nollywood, Nigerian Hollywood. Taking advantage of some favorable factors – for example the rapid growth of 4G services in the country – Netflix is therefore “testing the possible offer of an exclusive service for mobile devices at a cost of 1,200 naira per month”, that is less than half of the 2,900 naira (about 6 euros ) that you pay now for the least expensive of the possible subscriptions.
Always Bloomberg remember, however, that about one in two people in Nigeria live on less than two euros a day. And that there are streaming services – for example IrokoTV, which has a large catalog of Nollywood content – that only cost 250 naira a month. However, it seems that IrokoTV is having a lot of trouble making it right and Jason Njoku, its founder, said: “The context is difficult and it doesn’t look like things can get better.”
In Nigeria (but the situation is similar in other countries) Netflix is therefore having to lower costs to get closer to those of the competition, knowing however that too low costs hardly bring profits, especially if those subscriptions offer the vision of productions of a certain value.
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Starting from the success of his South African series Queen I am, released in February, Netflix wants to try to focus on other similar productions made in other African countries, e Bloomberg talks about the possible development of series, but also reality shows and programs for children and adolescents. Some tests for mobile-only subscriptions are already underway in South Africa and Egypt, two countries that together have more than 150 million inhabitants.
To move into the peculiar African market, Netflix could also try to make specific agreements with telephone operators, so as to offer its subscriptions in special packages that can also be purchased by those who do not have a credit card. Another option, already tested in other countries, involves creating special public places with particularly fast connections, so as to allow users to go there and download content to be seen at home, even without internet.
Bloomberg Finally, he cites forecasts, also made by Digital Tv Research, according to which by 2025 Netflix could reach about 5 million subscribers throughout Africa.
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