OTT in Africa to generate $2 billion in 2027

African OTT to generate $2 billion in 2027

African OTT movie and TV episode revenues will reach $2 billion by 2027 – triple from $623 million in 2021. South Africa and Nigeria will together account for 56% of the total by 2027, leaving $896 million divided between the other 33 countries. SVOD revenues will reach $1.66 billion by 2027; up from $476 million in 2021.

Digital TV Research forecasts 13.72 million SVOD subscriptions by 2027, up from 4.89 million at end-2021. Netflix will account for 47% of the region’s SVOD subscriptions by 2027. With no Amazon Prime countries in Africa, Amazon Prime Video is forecast to have 2.18 million paying subscribers by 2027.

Simon Murray, Principal Analyst at Digital TV Research, said: “Disney+ will only have a limited roll-out: South Africa (2022) and Nigeria (2023). We do not think that Paramount+, HBO Max or Peacock will start as standalone platforms in Africa. HBO will continue its distribution deal with Showmax.”

Murray continued: “Francophone MyCanal started as a free add-on for Canal Plus pay TV subscribers in 2021. In our last forecasts, we expected MyCanal to be a standalone platform. We now do not believe that this will happen. This will stifle SVOD growth in the Francophone countries.”