In Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation with over 200 million individuals, the thought of constructing a profitable native streaming platform sounds promising. But, the fact is grim: Low subscriber numbers and financial challenges make it a tricky promote.
Business insiders argue that Nigeria doubtless doesn’t have as much as 10 million lively paying subscribers for video streaming companies, a determine too small to help a worthwhile native platform. This shortage, mixed with excessive knowledge prices, funding woes, and competitors from world giants, has led some to name native streaming ventures ‘lifeless on arrival.’
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Market too small to thrive
Osita Oparaugo, founding father of the now-defunct Ogelle streaming platform, skilled this firsthand. In an interview with BusinessDay, he defined how Ogelle gained traction as a ‘motion’ however faltered when it got here to funding. “The paid model of Ogelle, which helps the Ogelle premium, which helps what we’re attending to pay the content material creators, was not forthcoming,” he mentioned. Regardless of providing high-quality content material, subscribers didn’t join the premium service. “That’s once we realised that the subscription-based mannequin is not going to work in Africa,” Oparaugo concluded.
He additionally forged doubt on Nigeria’s subscriber base. Commenting on MultiChoice Nigeria’s DStv, a significant pay-TV supplier, he mentioned, “I don’t assume that there are as much as 10 million Nigerians which might be on DStv.” Whereas he admitted he lacked entry to their knowledge, his skepticism displays a broader perception: The paying viewers in Nigeria is proscribed.
The numbers again this up. Netflix, a world streaming chief, had about 1.8 million subscribers throughout Africa in 2024, in response to studies. Nigeria, regardless of its large inhabitants, accounted for simply 10.5 p.c of that—roughly 180,000 subscribers. In a rustic the place tens of millions watch free content material on YouTube, convincing individuals to pay for streaming is an uphill battle.
Financial realities hit arduous
The struggles of South Africa-based MultiChoice spotlight the financial limitations. The corporate, which operates DStv, noticed its subscription income drop to $197.74 million (ZAR3.5 billion) for the 12 months ending March 2025, down from $355.93 million (ZAR6.3 billion) the earlier 12 months.
Excessive inflation in Nigeria—reaching 23.71 p.c in April 2025—and worsening financial situations drove away clients. Since March 2023, MultiChoice has misplaced 1.4 million subscribers in Nigeria, making up 77 p.c of the 1.8 million misplaced throughout its remainder of African markets. Between April and September 2024 alone, 243,000 Nigerian subscribers dropped off.
Afoma Igbedion, supervisor of the Nollywood Research Centre, pointed to deeper points. “Native streaming platforms are struggling in Nigeria due to a whole lot of interconnected points,” she mentioned. “One is the know-how wanted to attain the dimensions at which they should function for our inhabitants.”
Past tech, funding is scarce. Licensing high quality content material or commissioning originals prices cash that native platforms don’t have. Then there’s the socio-economic hurdle. “Would the market dimension required to maintain the enterprise be capable to afford the excessive value of knowledge to entry streaming platforms and the value level of subscription?” Igbedion requested. She instructed that free ad-supported streaming (FAST) channels like YouTube is likely to be the one viable possibility for now.
Huge gamers exit, small ones fail
Even well-known platforms aren’t immune. Jason Njoku, founding father of IrokoTV—as soon as referred to as the ‘Netflix of Africa’—introduced in March 2024 that the corporate had “lastly accepted there was no marketplace for paid premium companies and exited Nigeria” in 2023. In a weblog submit, he famous that IrokoTV stopped processing naira funds practically two years earlier. This adopted a tricky 2023, together with his spouse tweeting a few ‘nightmare’ 12 months of debt restructuring and cost-cutting to show the corporate round.
The dominance of worldwide platforms similar to YouTube, Netflix, and Amazon Prime provides stress. YouTube, for example, generates $36 billion yearly—about one-seventh of Nigeria’s GDP of $248 billion—with out spending on content material creation.
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Yinka Obebe, CEO of PopCentral, defined: “They spend nothing on content material—the whole lot goes into platform improvement and accessibility.”
Native platforms, in the meantime, lack the infrastructure, like Content material Supply Networks (CDNs), to compete. “Alternate price fluctuations killed us,” Obebe mentioned, recalling how his app, as soon as amongst Nigeria’s high 5 in 2020 as per Apple, relied on Indian builders in Dubai as a result of native ability gaps.
Why native platforms are ‘lifeless on arrival’
The phrase ‘lifeless on arrival’ captures the sentiment of many within the trade. Ojie Imoloame, a Nollywood producer, argued that “the Nigerian market is just not prepared for native streaming platforms and won’t work.”
He instructed constructing content material libraries for platforms like YouTube as an alternative, the place monetisation is simpler. The subscription mannequin, profitable in wealthier markets, falters domestically as a result of just a few can afford each knowledge and charges amid financial hardship.
International platforms additionally pose a danger. Emeka Mba, a Nigerian media mogul, warned of over-reliance on them after YouTube shut down his channel for a ‘neighborhood requirements violation.’
“They will take you down with out discover, lock you out with out rationalization, or change their income guidelines in a single day,” he wrote on LinkedIn. He careworn the necessity for native platforms to guard “cultural sovereignty, artistic freedom, and financial safety,” citing Netflix and Amazon’s retreat from Nigerian originals as a wake-up name.
Glimmer of hope?
Regardless of the gloom, some see a path ahead. MultiChoice is reportedly tweaking DStv’s mannequin, providing each day or weekly funds as an alternative of month-to-month subscriptions—a nod to Nigeria’s financial constraints.
Obebe pinned hopes on MTN’s knowledge centre initiative, which might present inexpensive infrastructure. “Streaming is a really, very, very huge boys’ sport,” he mentioned, however instructed a rethink: “We should make investments closely in platform improvement and accessibility—the tech is now not rocket science.”
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He additionally championed synthetic intelligence (AI) as a game-changer. “Westerners don’t want AI for content material as a lot as we do. They’ve budgets, we by no means have,” Obebe argued. Through the use of AI to chop prices and create genuine Nigerian content material, native platforms might carve a distinct segment. “The way forward for Nigerian streaming isn’t about competing with world giants on their phrases—it’s about creating native options for our distinctive market,” he mentioned.
The street forward
Nigeria’s streaming ambitions face a stark actuality. A small paying viewers, excessive prices, and world competitors make native platforms a dangerous wager. With fewer than 10 million subscribers doubtless throughout all companies, far beneath what’s wanted for profitability, the dream appears distant. But, voices like Mba and Obebe argue for persistence, mixing innovation with native focus.
