As African content continues to be ramped up globally, more creative collaborations are emerging not just in Nollywood, but East Africa too.
The African film industry is almost synonymous with Nollywood, produced out of Nigeria.
But East Africa is also playing to the gallery more so now, with its own content and collaborations.
A fact reiterated by entities such as D&R Studios, which has created shows such as The Real Housewives of Nairobi, Sol Family, This Love, Being Bahati, and Young Rich, and Rushlake Media, a network that creates, develops, and scales streaming brands worldwide. The two recently announced a partnership to have more Kenyan TV content streamed internationally.
Eugene Mbugua, CEO of D&R studios, tells FORBES AFRICA it is a game-changer for African storytelling, especially for Kenya. “They open doors, not just for distribution, but for collaboration, co-productions and resource sharing that can elevate the quality and reach of our content. For too long, African stories have either been overlooked or told through a foreign lens. Collaborations like this one ensures that we tell our own stories on our own terms, but with infrastructure to compete and appear globally.”
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Philipp Hoffmann, founder and CEO of Rushlake Media, corroborates: “[We have always] focused on African storytelling, [for us] it was kind of an obvious thing to try and reach out and work with them.”
“The partnership gives us access to a wider distribution network, but more importantly, it positions Kenyan TV as a serious contender in the global content space.”
In its Africa Entertainment and Media Outlook 2022-2026 report, PricewaterhouseCoopers states that Kenya’s TV subscription revenue was estimated at around $420 million “recording an all-time high” in 2021. The report further says that the film and TV industry in Kenya experienced significant growth in the past two decades, with a focus on producing high-quality content that appeals to both local and international audiences with the film industry being estimated to be worth KES 5.3 billion ($49 million).
In a 2024 interview with FORBES AFRICA, Kenyan actor Sarah Hassan also agreed about the booming entertainment sector in the East African country.
“I would say the film space in Kenya has really grown. Even if you look at TV, we have a lot of different shows,” says Hassan, who has many shows and accolades under her svelte belt. “Looking at what there is, it’s a testament to the growth of the industry… We still have a long way to go, but we are moving in the right direction.”
“In an ideal world, [Kenyan] films can definitely cross into markets or to audiences which are not necessarily [just] African. This can widen the idea, the picture, the image of the African continent,” Hoffmann says. “Of course, we all know the bad stories from the continent, the cruel things [being said] and the bad things happening. But there’s so much more. There’s so much more to be seen and be discovered.”
“We’ve always believed that Kenyan stories deserve a global stage,” Mbugua adds.
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