South Africa has met with Netflix officials. In the coming weeks, local authorities are expected to require the platform to broadcast 30% African content.
What if Netflix offered a set number of local productions in each country where it is present? This is the idea of South Africa, whose government is considering forcing the streaming platform to offer 30% local content in its South African catalog. The Rainbow Nation has been working on this subject for several months. And this will necessarily go through new regulations that will be imposed on all foreign streaming sites.
Last Monday, the representative of Netflix in South Africa was heard by the local authorities, namely the Ministry of Communication. A discussion which was based on a series of recommendations contained in a “white paper” released last year. But Netflix only moderately appreciated the interview. Shola Sanni, director of public policy for sub-Saharan Africa at Netflix, "there might be a less burdensome way of approaching it."
Because, during the hearing, the Ministry of Communication was clear: South Africa will indeed impose quotas on Netflix, concerning national productions. The American streaming platform has already contacted the South African cinema regulatory authority to launch South African co-productions. It remains to be seen when and how these quotas will be applied.
An opportunity for African platforms?
If Netflix recently launched a project funding program, Netflix Screenwriters Fellowship, to the tune of $ 32 million, to highlight marginalized communities and therefore leave more opportunities for African screenwriters, the platform is still far from being able to respond. South African requirements to broadcast a third of local content.
A boon for African platforms, including MultiChoice. The South African operator offers several streaming services: DStv, GOtv or Showmax. Asked by CNN Connecting Africa, the boss of MultiChoice claims to have "spent over $ 135 million on local content productions across the continent, and the plan is to increase the local content quota in our catalog to 45%".
MultiChoice thus wants to respond to a demand that is indeed present on the continent: local productions, if they are of good quality, surpass foreign programs. “If we focus on hyper-localization as the main differentiator, we will be successful,” says Calvo Mawela.
Besides South Africa, other countries are currently considering imposing quotas to favor African content.