Louis Manu: After Showmax, what does the future of streaming in Africa look like?

A fortnight ago, Showmax, which for the last ten-plus years had been pan-African broadcaster Multichoice’s answer to the arrival of global streaming platforms on the continent, shut down.Canal+, Multichoice’s parent company, pointed to the streaming platform’s not-so-pretty financials as the reason for pulling the plug. With Showmax gone, which was the closest Africa-born competitor to Netflix at least from the POV of budget spend, what will become of the continent’s streaming landscape?While Showmax has always grabbed the headlines as Africa’s forefront streaming platform, several other streamers have amassed millions of users by telling African stories. One of those is Wi-flix, founded in December 2020 by Ghananians Louis Manu and Bright Yeboah.Now boasting over 4 million users and a goal to reach 10 million in the next three years, Wi-flix’s focus on an African and mobile-native audience seems to be paying dividends.In this conversation, Manu reflects on the early days of Wi-flix, which included trying to convince telcos that the soft bundling strategy would drive data sales while also convincing content creators that the revenue-sharing model was the right approach. He also comments on the current state of streaming on the continent, including the implications of Showmax's exit and the insatiable appetite for African stories globally. On the future of streaming, he touches on what business models are going to look like as well as the competitive environment.You can connect to Louis on LinkedIn here. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit techaways.substack.com