African content has found a global market. Now comes the fight over the money

Sello Maake Ka-Ncube got a reminder of how far African television has travelled while passing through an airport in Ethiopia. People recognised the South African actor from Blood & Water. Later, in Europe, a group of Spaniards recognised him too. For Maake Ka-Ncube, those moments were about more than personal recognition. They showed that a South African production could reach people who had no direct connection to the country. “These productions do give visibility to actors, and I think they also give visibility to South African storytelling,” he told TechCabal. African filmmakers have always had stories to tell. The problem was getting those stories beyond their home markets. Streaming platforms have changed the distribution game. A Nigerian film can find viewers across several countries. South African actors can build audiences outside the country. Zimbabwean talent can end up in a production such as One Piece. That brings a different question into focus: when African content finds a bigger audience, who gets the financial benefit?

The audience is already there

Netflix has spent the past decade building its African content business. Kaye Ann Williams, Netflix’s director of scripted content for Africa, says the company did not create the talent behind African productions. Instead, it gave local producers another route to international viewers. Subtitles and dubbing have helped remove some of the language barriers. The numbers from individual productions show what is possible. The Black Book reached Netflix’s Global Top 10 in 69 countries. Blood & Water took South African actors to viewers outside the continent. Daniel Lasker, a Zimbabwean actor, joined the cast of One Piece, which filmed extensively in South Africa. Africa’s streaming market is also expected to grow. It is estimated to reach $3.1 billion by 2031, while video-on-demand subscriptions were expected to reach 15 million in 2026. For producers, that means there are more people to sell content to, but also more money at stake when a production succeeds.

The production creates work beyond the screen

A streaming production does not only employ actors and directors. Hotels take bookings. Drivers move cast and crew around. Caterers provide meals. Construction teams build sets. Equipment companies supply productions. Security firms and other local businesses get work. Netflix says a production such as One Piece can involve more than 600 local suppliers, many of them small and medium-sized businesses, and create more than 1,000 full-time-equivalent crew jobs. Netflix also says it invested R4 billion, about $247 million, in South African, Nigerian and Kenyan local content between 2021 and 2024. South Africa’s Independent Producers Organisation recorded another R2.52 billion in foreign-owned production investment in the country’s film sector in 2024. Those numbers show that international productions can put money into local businesses. They do not, however, tell us who owns the content once the production is finished.

A successful film can create a second business

This is where the original contract becomes important. Imagine a film that performs better than expected. Viewers in another country start watching it. A platform wants a second season. Another company asks about a remake. A character becomes popular enough to carry another story. The original producer may or may not benefit from those opportunities. Everything depends on the rights agreed in the first deal. Ownership of the characters matters. So do sequel rights, licensing rights and the ability to negotiate a remake. A producer who takes a once-off payment has a different financial position from one who keeps some rights or negotiates a share of future revenue. For producers who already struggle to raise money for their next project, that difference can have a direct impact on whether they can keep producing.

Wi-flix is testing another payment model

Louis Manu, co-founder and CEO of Wi-flix, says producers should have another way to structure these deals. The African streaming company uses revenue sharing on some projects instead of relying only on fixed payments. The split can range from 50/50 to 60/40 or 70/30, depending on the project, marketing, advertising and whether Wi-flix contributes to production. A fixed payment gives a producer money upfront and removes some uncertainty. Revenue sharing works differently. The producer may earn less at first, but can continue earning if viewers keep watching. Manu gave an example of a film that generates $10,000. Rather than accepting a once-off $40,000 payment, a creator could receive a portion of the revenue generated by the film over time. Not every producer will want that arrangement. Someone who needs cash to fund the next production may still prefer the upfront payment. The model does, however, put the focus on a bigger issue: whether African creators can participate in the money their content generates after the initial deal.

International productions are changing the work actors get

Ayanda Seoka, the South African actress who appeared in Prime Video’s The Wheel of Time, has seen the difference from the actor’s side. She said the larger budgets on international productions can mean better pay and working conditions. During The Wheel of Time, she travelled between Johannesburg and Cape Town for fittings and filming. When production schedules changed, the production put her up in a five-star hotel. Those details might not sound important when talking about a global franchise, but they matter to actors who normally work on smaller productions. The other benefit is the credit. An actor based in South Africa can work on a production aimed at viewers around the world without moving overseas to find that opportunity. Maake Ka-Ncube’s experiences in Ethiopia and Europe show what that exposure can look like. Recognition, however, does not automatically mean a bigger share of the production’s income. An international role can lead to another job. It does not necessarily mean the actor earns more when the show becomes a bigger hit.

Distribution remains a weak point

Getting African content onto an international platform is one thing. Finding multiple ways to distribute and monetise that content is another. Manu believes producers should not have to rely on a single exclusive deal where other options are available. A successful film could potentially generate income through different streaming services, licensing arrangements, cinemas and other markets, depending on the rights. Wi-flix says it has more than four million customers across Africa and the diaspora. Manu says the company’s ambition is to help move African content from local audiences to international ones. For producers, more distribution options could mean more opportunities to earn from the same piece of content. It could also give them something they often lack when negotiating with much larger platforms: leverage.

The first deal may not be the most important one

Streaming has already changed the African entertainment business. International platforms are spending money on local productions. Crews are getting work. Small businesses are supplying productions. Actors are picking up international credits. The bigger change is the audience. African stories can now reach people who may never have encountered them through traditional television. But a bigger audience does not settle the financial question. A producer can get paid to make a film without owning the rights to the next chapter. An actor can become recognised internationally without sharing in the revenue that follows a successful show. A production can bring hundreds of jobs into a local economy while the long-term commercial rights sit elsewhere. That puts more weight on the deal signed before production starts. The payment matters, but so do the rights. So does the length of the agreement. So does what happens if the content moves into another country or becomes something bigger. African content has already shown that it can travel. The next challenge is making sure the people producing that content have a stake in what happens after it gets there.