Rebecca Hawkes ©RapidTVNews | 12-09-2011


South African pay-TV platform M-Net and Abidjan-based content distribution company Cȏte Ouest have sealed a new deal which will reportedly enable the latter to expand its catalogue of African TV for the English-speaking market.

Traditionally, the distributor has provided the French-speaking African market with Hollywood and Latin American productions. However, this partnership will open up M-Net’s African Film Library (AFL) – which it claims is the largest archive of award-winning African cinema in the world.

“We are proud to enrich our offer to English-speaking African markets with more than 1,000 hours of first class African TV content,” said Bernard Azria, chief executive, Côte Ouest.

Among others, the AFL includes films by Senegal’s Ousmane Sembene, such as Borom Sarret, and La Noire De; as well as Le Destin, Saladin, The 6th Day, The Land and The Sparrow by Youssef Chahine of Egypt; and Badou Boy, Hyenes, Le Franc and Touki Bouki from Senegal’s Djibril Diop Mambéty. Nollywood hits are also represented.

In addition, it houses popular African TV series and documentaries such as Changes (originally from Kenya), Tinsel (from Nigeria), Egoli (M-Net’s longest running soap), Great Africans, and the Face of Africa magazine-style show.“The African Film Library truly showcases the diverse content being produced on the continent,” said Mike Dearham, head of sales and library, M-Net.

“M-Net is dedicated to the growth and development of the African production industry, and we are excited to be working in partnership with Côte Ouest to take rich African content to the Anglophone market.”