Africa plans to launch its own Netflix platform in a bid to tackle piracy

[Len]

Nigerian film industry has exploded to become the second largest in the world after Bollywood and Hollywood.

The glamorous blogger Linda Ikeji, the filmmaker Chioma Ude, the startupper Jason Njoku ... These Nigerians have a priori, not much in common, if not the same ambition: to become the future African Netflix by popularizing access to Nollywood movies online.

With nearly USD 4 billion in revenue and nearly 2,000 films produced each year, the Nigerian film industry has exploded to become the second largest in the world after Bollywood and Hollywood.

Local start-ups and Nollywood stars have understood the value of otherwise distributing these very popular films on the African continent, where cinemas remain rare. So far, the Nollywoodian creation is sold mostly on the sly, on pirated DVDs for one or two dollars, in the traffic jams of big cities.

Faced with a promising market, video-on-demand platforms are flourishing and in Lagos, the capital of film production, the competition is already fierce.

Linda Ikeji, social networking icon, kicked off this weekend with LITV (Linda Ikeji Tv), which offers, for 1,000 nairas (2,3 euros) per month, dozens of films, series, and shows inspired by American shows with Nollywood sauce.

"We hope to be in Africa what Netflix is in the world," said the ambitious blogger on his Instagram page, which borders on two million subscribers.

She promises glamor, provocation, and comedy, including reality TV shows like "Femmes de footballeurs" and "Highway Girls of Eko", a series about the "real life of prostitutes in Lagos".

By December, the Nigerian company Envivo, associated with the US giant telecom Cisco, should in turn launch with a project to more than 20 million dollars, told AFP filmmaker Chioma Ude, director of marketing at Envivo, as per La Croix.

"Cisco wants to make its mark in Africa, and as a technical partner, they will provide the network and the technology to deliver the best possible service," says the founder of the Lagos African International Film Festival (AFRIFF).

It remains to find a viable business model for promoters of Nollywood online, while the low coverage of broadband Internet remains a major drag.

Only 34 percent of Africans today have access to the Internet, compared to more than 50 percent in the rest of the world, although Africa is the region with the largest increase in Internet users last year, notable thanks to mobile phones.