According to a recent report, the creative economy in Africa is thriving; this while the continent’s creatives contribute to growing the industry and bringing the spotlight back home.
The past five years have proven to be very successful for Africa’s entertainment sector for both music and movies – 22-year-old South African, Tyla Laura Seethal took home a Grammy last year and Nigeria’s Temilade Openiyi (Tems) took hers home a year before that.
In addition, Nigerian-British actor, Cynthia Erivo was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role at this year’s Academy Awards for her role as Elphaba in the cinematic version of the Broadway classic, Wicked; and South African short film, The Last Ranger was short-listed in the 97th Academy Awards in the Best Live Action Short Film category.
If Erivo wins the Oscar in March, the Daytime Emmy, Grammy and Tony Award-winning actress will then receive the coveted EGOT status.
The newly-released PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Africa Entertainment and Media Outlook for 2024-2028, labeled Resilience and Reinvention, states that the key strongest markets (South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria) saw revenue growth in media and entertainment, ahead of the global average of 5% in 2023.
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Growth was the strongest in the West African nation with an average of 15%. South Africa saw growth of 11.7% and Kenya saw an increase of 5.8%. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for Nigeria continues to boast one of the fastest growing E&M industries in the world with an 8.6% CAGR.
South Africa is the most established market in Africa, with projected CAGR of 4.2% through 2028. Most of the country’s future growth is spread across various segments, excluding print media (newspapers, consumer magazines and books). However, PwC also reports that the segment to watch across media and entertainment is video games and esports.
“South Africa’s resilient E&M market will see significant growth in OTT and internet advertising, driven by stable connectivity and 5G adoption, but must adapt to business model reinvention amidst digital ecosystem shifts and Al disruptions,” Alinah Motaung-Tshabalala, PwC Africa Entertainment and Media Leader, adds in the report.
Kenya’s biggest growth point will come from internet advertising; this is primarily due to the growth in mobile services. Nigeria’s growth through to 2028 will be largely due to internet advertising, video games, music and podcasts, to name a few.
“With a youthful population eager to embrace innovation, Nigeria’s entertainment and media industry can harness the power of genAl to capitalize on this disruptive force, unlocking new opportunities for growth and development,”Udochi Muogilim, Technology, Media and Telecommunications Leader at PwC Nigeria, said.
The report also showed that South Africa recorded the largest annual jump in box office revenue of the three countries during 2023 at 33.6%. According to PwC, international blockbusters will help drive the cinema industry in South Africa, which “has been experiencing a challenging few years and is starting to show steady recovery to pre-pandemic revenues by 2027”.
Over the next five years, E&M in these three countries is expected to rise ahead of the global average of 3.9% CAGR. In South Africa, the increase will go from $16.1 billion to $19.8 billion, while revenue is set to reach $4.8 billion in Kenya; this from $3.8 billion in 2023. Nigeria’s growth will go from $9 billion to $13.6 billion in 2028.
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