Netflix plans to expand its Africa operations, building on hit series

Netflix plans to expand its operations in Africa, building on the success of hit shows and series like the South African drama “Blood and Water”, the online video-streaming giant said.

Netflix has invested $175 million in film content production in the continent since launching its operations in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria in 2016, having created more than 12,000 jobs along the way. “The expansion of our operations here is a good thing for Netflix,” the company said in a report. “This is a start, we plan to reach more countries on the continent,” says Shola Sanni, Netflix’s sub-Saharan Africa policy director.

“Expanding our business here is good for Netflix,” the firm said in a report without giving no details on the scale of its African plans, though it said that $63 million had been earmarked for South Africa alone in 2022-23. The country is Africa’s largest contributor to the site, adding more than 170 movies, series and documentaries to the streaming service.

In 2020, “Blood and Water” received international praise, becoming the first South African show to reach No. 1 in the United States.

African film-makers have recently reimagined traditional African tales of monsters, genies, and malevolent spirits for a contemporary audience in a new Netflix series. Film-makers from Tanzania, South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Mauritania and Uganda have turned six traditional stories into dark fantasy dramas that cover topics including domestic violence, suicide and child marriage. The six films were selected from more than 2,000 applicants from Africa who responded to a 2021 call for ideas from Netflix and UNESCO, which were offering production grants of around $70,000. Most of the 30-minute films in the African Folktales, Reimagined series are female-centered. “There’s one thing that UNESCO and Netflix have in common, and that is belief in the multiplicity of cultural expressions,” says Sanni.