The world’s largest online streaming service, Netflix, has announced plans to expand operations in Africa, claiming that its $175 million (£140 million) investment there since 2016 has already produced several successful episodes.
A report on Netflix’s influence in South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya was launched at the same occasion when the news was made, which took place in Johannesburg.
According to the report, the company has created 12,000 jobs on the continent and intends to build on this success beyond just three countries.
“We have undertaken this report to reflect on Netflix’s social and economic impact in the key countries,” Netflix’s sub-Saharan Africa policy director, Shola Sanni, said in its introduction.
“We are still in many ways at the inception stages of our investment journey, so it’s doubly exciting to know that we are poised to deliver even greater impact if we maintain our current momentum – and if the right circumstances for investments in our sector continue to prevail.”
She pointed to African productions like Silverton Siege (South African), Aníkúlápó (Nigerian) and Disconnect: The Wedding Planner (Kenyan) as all having at one point made it into Netflix Global Top 10 lists.
However to keep telling African stories on a global stage, Netflix needed to have the support of “governments, civil society, private sector and industry” to allow the create industries to thrive, Ms Sanni said.
“Enabling policy frameworks, flexible regulatory mandates and ease of doing business are inextricably bound to the continued growth of the audio-visual sector and streaming services.”