African SVOD subscriptions to triple over next five years
Details
Editor
| 26 August 2021
Driven by regional powerhouses South Africa and Nigeria, Africa’s subscription video-on-demand sector is set to have 15.06 million paying customers by 2026 says a study from Digital TV Research, almost triple the number expected for the end of 2021.
Showmax 24 July 2019
From these additions, the Africa SVOD Forecasts report has forecast South Africa and Nigeria will each supply 2.3 million and that they will be the only countries in the region with more than a million subscriptions.

In terms of individual companies that are driving the market, Netflix is likely to account for 51% of the region’s SVOD subscribers by end-2021 but its share is projected to fall to 39% by 2026, totalling 5.84 million subscribers which is double from 2.61 million in 2021. Disney+ is set to start in 2022 – but only in an expected 12 countries - with 2.17 million paying subscribers forecast by 2026. Local player Showmax is set for 2.117 million subs by 2026 and MyCanal 629,000.

Commenting on these trends in the Africa SVOD Forecasts report Simon Murray, principal analyst at Digital TV Research, said: “The selective launch plans from some global platforms works in favour of regional players such as Showmax and MyCanal.”