MIP AFRICA: Netflix’s Ben Amadasun has this week been reassuring African producers that the streamer is here to stay, increasing its content spend and won’t be leaving the continent any time soon – unlike some of its rivals.
Ben Amadasun
Netflix, which has pumped millions into content production across Africa over the past few years, has reaffirmed its commitment to the continent and is assuring local producers that it won’t suddenly up and leave like Amazon Studios did earlier this year.
Speaking to C21 at Mip Africa 2024, which is taking place in Cape Town this week, Ben Amadasun, Netflix’s VP for the Middle East and Africa, said Netflix Africa remains thoroughly committed to working with creatives across the continent, will be spending even more than before, and is “truly excited” to collaborate on crafting new and uniquely African content for viewers.
“We’ve invested significantly across Africa over the last few years, from South Africa to Nigeria, and this is going to continue to increase as we do more, bigger and better productions,” Amadasun said.
“We’re here for the long haul. We believe in the market. We’ve seen great success. The stories are working here; they are translating to broader audiences around the world. Netflix is truly excited to be in the African market. There are so many stories we haven’t told here in Africa yet. We want to be a part of that.”
Amadasun said as far as Africa is concerned, Netflix won’t be emulating Amazon Studios, which sent shockwaves through the production community in January when it dropped its African content team and ended its short-lived investment in originals from the region.
“We’re on a different trajectory. Our budgets are changing all the time and it depends, of course, on genre and particular programming, but I think it’s improving more and more in terms of what we are investing in,” Amadasun said.
This week at Mip Africa, Netflix unveiled a slate of new titles, including a South African version of reality format Love Never Lies, with BBC Studios-owned production company Rapid Blue, and a number of South African films.
When asked about Netflix’s African budget, Amadasun said: “We are making sure that we contribute what is a big and fair amount.” As to why Netflix has concentrated primarily on Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya in East Africa, he said the streamer is now looking into expanding its originals push into other African countries.
“You’ve got to look at sustainability. If you look at certain markets – by their nature and economic environment – they’re more conducive to growing the business there. We’ve been working in these three markets because of the bigger opportunities for growth. The established industries in these three markets are sizeable, which is why we chose them to start our African journey.
“There is the dream that one day that we will go into even more African markets and programme for them as things get easier to do business there, such as access to broadband and consumers being able to stream our content. There is the determination that one day Netflix Africa will go into more markets, but we’ve got to look, at the moment, where our priorities are and it’s these countries and programmes from there.
“Having said that, we’ve acquired titles that have come from different countries. We look at specific opportunities for titles and stories that are just brilliant and that come from any other parts of Africa.” He noted that Netflix has bought titles from across the continent, from Zambia to Tanzania, “and we continue to do so where it makes sense,” he added
“Sometimes we might not make a story specific to Botswana but if you have the right kind of environment for Netflix to come shoot a show there, we will come and produce there if the stories make sense to do so,” he said.
“We’ve had different stories where there’s been a storyline going to other parts of Africa, or we’ve had talent from other parts of Africa. So there are many other ways of still representing the broader Africa through titles which are maybe anchored in Nigeria or South Africa as key markets.
“We want more African stories to be told and I think we’re still just scratching the surface in terms of what you’ve seen we’ve been doing. I want to make sure they have the ‘wow’ factor. That’s what I’m looking for in terms of stories.”
