Tendaiishe Chitima, the lead actress in the Zimbabwean film "Cook Off" — the first film from the country on Netflix.Global streaming giant Netflix and other major entertainment companies are increasingly investing capital in African-made programming and content.
Apple, Warner Music, Sony Music, and Universal Music are seizing the opportunity to be part of the African entertainment boom, setting up offices and acquiring African music labels. Netflix, the global streaming superpower, didn't enter the African market until 2016, but did so with a vision of telling African stories with African voices — since then, it has invested an extraordinary $17 billion in African-made programming and content.
Netflix launched its "Made in Africa" collection in May, featuring hundreds of Netflix titles shot in Africa. It included Nigerian drama Lionheart, which Netflix won the right to distribute after its Toronto Film Festival premiere. In February, Netflix released its first African original, the South African crime series "Queen Sono" In May it followed this up with "Blood and Water," starring South African actress Ama Qamata.
Expansion into any new market varies in its impact, and Netflix's emerging market venture has had its challenges. Many African countries still struggle with infrastructure and energy resources. Power cuts, high data costs, and slow broadband are still major parts of navigating business in African cities. In some areas, there is no connection at all for streaming. Netflix's flat global price is unaffordable to many in Africa, where 85% of people live on less than $5.
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