MTN’s streaming dreams + realities of building in Africa’s creative economy

What MTN’s return to the streaming business means and an answer to investors’ questions of what success looks like in Africa’s creative industries.

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Hello there,

They say the third time’s the charm for a reason. Every failure brings valuable lessons that increase your chances of success, and by the third try, the odds are in your favor. We have MTN to thank for this reminder, as you’ll see later in the newsletter.

In today’s Digest, we discuss

• What it means to succeed in Africa’s creative industries, and

• MTN’s latest attempt at tackling the video streaming business in Africa.

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Center Spread 🗞️

What success in Africa’s creative industry looks like

It’s slow-cooked. Messy. Built on years of persistence, sharp vision, and the guts to think beyond borders. That’s the picture painted by a new study from the CREA Fund, in partnership with Restless Global’s Marie Lora-Mungai, PwC Nigeria, and TFCC.

The study, which profiled 12 companies in various sectors of the creative economy across six African countries, was in response to growing concerns among investors and other stakeholders on what success looks like in the industry. To select these companies, the researchers set their criteria as profitable market leadership, revenue of over $1 million, and acquisitions or real returns to initial investors.

One of their key findings was that international markets are critical for viability. Africori, a music distribution company, which reached profitability only after 11 years of existence, had 65% of its revenue come from outside Africa. Essentially, local markets are just the starting point. If your business model isn’t built to tap into global demand, you’re not aiming high enough.

Diversification is another recurring theme. These successful companies also tend to diversify aggressively. Chocolate City Group and Filmhouse Group, both Nigerian, and Kenya’s Vivo Fashion group don’t limit themselves to one service. They are vertically integrated across the value chain of whatever sector they serve. They start small, then go deep and wide. This allows them to not only build resilience but also creates multiple revenue streams and establishes brand dominance.

Positioning also matters. Ghana’s Christie Brown, Kenya’s Mdundo, and South Africa’s Triggerfish Studio are great examples of how strong branding shapes the kind of customers you attract. Nigeria’s Landmark Africa and Senegal’s Marodi TV, on the other hand, showed the importance of knowing when to pivot. The success of these companies came mostly after they adjusted their business models to meet the moment instead of clinging to their original plan.

And the best don’t just follow demand, they shape it. Brands like Kana TV and Mavin Records understand what their audiences want, sometimes before they even know it themselves. They invest in quality and strategic partnerships that reinforce long-term growth rather than chasing quick wins.

In short, success in Africa’s creative economy isn’t quick or accidental. It’s not about hype, virality, or being first to market. It’s about staying in the game long enough and being smart enough to build something that lasts. It takes patience, capital, courage, and the willingness to wrestle with fragmented markets and global competition.

MTN wants to try again with video streaming

MTN is once again testing the waters in Africa’s video streaming lake. On April 7, 2025, the telecoms giant announced a partnership with U.K. video software provider Synamedia to build a new video-on-demand (VOD) platform aimed at mobile and broadband users across the continent.

It’s a bold move—but not without baggage. The company has made several attempts to break into the market over the years. In 2017, its South African division shuttered “MTN VU,” just three years after launching it to compete with Multichoice and Showmax. Despite partnerships with major Hollywood studios and free data streaming for subscribers, VU failed to gain traction. MTN blamed the prohibitive costs of running the service for its exit.

In 2023, MTN Nigeria tried another approach, partnering with Amazon to offer “Prime Video Mobile Edition”. However, Amazon has since scaled back in Africa; it stopped its local content production efforts and laid off staff as it refocused on Europe.

But this isn’t just about one company trying again. The African SVOD (subscription video-on-demand) market itself is in trouble. Global giants like Netflix and Amazon Prime have led mostly by default, thanks to deep content budgets and global libraries. Yet even they are pulling back. Amazon exited the African market in 2024. Netflix has quietly canceled several local productions with little public explanation. There’s no sign that other global players plan to double down.

A major reason: unit economics doesn't quite work. Many Africans simply can’t afford global streaming prices, and these platforms struggle to recoup content investments. Without massive audiences or strong local ad markets, returns are slim. (We talked about this in detail in Communiqué 12: The subscription playbook.)

Telcos seemed like the natural path to break into the market—but they haven’t cracked the formula either. Vodacom shut down Video Play in 2022, despite once holding 17% of the Sub-Saharan market. Econet’s Kwese TV and Cell C’s Black met similar ends. Content costs, weak adoption, and financial strain proved too much to overcome.

So, maybe the third time’s the charm for MTN. On paper, it has one advantage: reach. With over 291 million subscribers across 16 African countries, it has distribution muscle most rivals lack. But reach alone doesn’t guarantee usage. Case in point: MoMo, its fintech play, has found only moderate success despite wide rollout across the continent.

MTN’s new streaming effort is still light on details; it has no name, no launch date, and no confirmed content partners. But it does signal a renewed focus on local relevance. MTN says the platform will be tailored to each market’s language, culture, and viewing habits.

Perhaps more than anything, this move reflects MTN’s commitment to the continent: building an African-owned, African-built service that speaks to African realities. Whether it can succeed where others—and it—have failed remains to be seen. But in a sector where even the global giants are retreating, that kind of commitment might just count for something.

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Crunch Time 📈

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Penzaarville is writing the rules for talent management in Africa’s creator economy

If you’re Nigerian, you likely would have heard of popular comedy skit makers, Layi Wasabi and Broda Shaggi, and that is if you’ve not already spent hours watching their hilarious takes on life. What you might not know is that behind their rise to fame and continued relevance is Penzaarville Africa, a talent management agency dedicated to Africa’s creator economy. Its talent roster also includes actress Tomike Adeoye and social media sensation Diary of a Naija Girl.

In our latest Communiqué essay, we explain how Penzaarville’s approach to turning online fame into real, scalable business for Africa’s top creators draws from the global giant Creative Artists Agency (CAA) playbook.

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Curiosity Cabinet 🗄️

• In case you (somehow 🙄) missed it, Communiqué’s African Creative Economy Database is now live. Discover the many players shaping the sector’s future.

• A new museum in Lagos that celebrates culture instead of “objectifying it.”

• Consuming music via streaming is ripe for disruption, MIDiA’s Tatiana Cirisano paints a picture of what a new way could look like.

• Ted Sarandos, co-CEO and former chief content officer, explains how Netflix has been able to hold on to its first-mover advantage in the global video streaming sector.

• TechCabal’s Muktar Oladunmade outlines how Lagos’ iconic yellow Danfo buses could be transformed into a $375 million market.

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Challenge Yourself 🧐

Big ups to everyone who gave the last edition’s challenge a go.

Now, for this edition’s challenge:

“VU” wasn't the original name of MTN’s short-lived video streaming platform before it closed shop in 2017. Can you tell what it was?

The first person with the correct answer gets a complimentary one-month subscription to Communiqué.

Good luck.