Netflix has announced plans to expand its operations in Africa, claiming that it is $175 million (£140 million) investment in the continent since 2016 has already resulted in some hit shows.
The announcement came at a Johannesburg event where Netflix released a report on its impact in South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya.
According to the report, the company has created 12,000 jobs on the continent and plans to expand beyond three countries.
“We have undertaken this report to reflect on Netflix’s social and economic impact in key countries,” said Shola Sanni, Netflix’s Sub-Saharan Africa policy director, in the report’s introduction.
“We are still in the early stages of our investment journey in many ways, so it’s doubly exciting to know that we are poised to deliver an even greater impact if we maintain our current momentum – and if the right conditions for investments in our sector continue to prevail.”
She cited African productions such as Silverton Siege (South African), Anklápó (Nigerian), and Disconnect: The Wedding Planner (Kenyan) as having made it into Netflix’s Global Top 10 lists at some point.
However, in order to continue telling African stories on a global scale, Netflix needed the support of “governments, civil society, the private sector, and industry,” according to Ms. Sanni.
“Enabling policy frameworks, flexible regulatory mandates, and ease of doing business are inextricably linked to the audio-visual sector’s and streaming services’ continued growth.”
