Africa SVOD Market to Add 9 Million Subs

According to Digital TV Research, Netflix is poised to remain the SVOD market leader in Africa, with 6.9 million subscribers by 2029, and Showmax will be the second-largest platform, with 3.7 million paying subs.

Amazon is forecast for 2.97 million subs. With its rollout expected to be limited to South Africa, Disney+ will have 905,000 subscriptions by 2029. Apple TV will be at 245,000.

The firm also predicts that sub-Saharan Africa will have 16 million paying SVOD subscriptions by 2029, up from 7 million at the end of 2023. South Africa and Nigeria will supply 59 percent (9.4 million) of the region’s total.

African SVOD penetration is expected to still be low by 2029, with just 7.1 percent of TV households paying for at least one subscription—up from 4.7 percent at the end of 2023.

Simon Murray, principal analyst at Digital TV Research, said: “SVOD is a battle between Netflix and regional player Showmax. Rich in local content and sports rights, Showmax now has access to NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures and HBO content. Showmax’s parent MultiChoice recently rejected a takeover bid from CANAL+.”