New ideas for old problems in Nollywood + Helios’s $75M fund for Africa’s entertainment market
Circuit’s latest offering to fix Nigeria’s film distribution pipeline and Helios’s plan to make more bets on Africa’s creative economy infrastructure.
Hello there!
And to our Kenyan folks, Mhali gani? I come bearing good news: Communiqué IRL is coming to Nairobi!
Join us on Thursday, August 21, 2025, at Alliance Française (6PM EAT) for an evening of curated conversations, connections, and insights into East Africa’s growing creative economy. Expect to hear from Brian Kimanzi, Mars Maasai (HEVA Fund), Ezekiel ‘Ezy’ Onyango (PAIPEC-CCI), Wangui Njoroge, and more.
I bet you leave recharged for the work you do to advance the creative economy. We saved you a seat here. Remember to bring a friend or colleague.
Now, to today’s digest. We discuss
Circuit's new offering and how it offers insights into the distribution issues plaguing Nollywood.
Helios’s $75M bet on Africa’s sport and entertainment industries.
Centre Spread 🗞️
Circuits’ Pay-Per-View play and the Nollywood distribution riddle
Nigerian streaming platform Circuits is expanding its offerings to deepen user engagement and carve out a niche in Nigeria’s evolving film distribution landscape.
Earlier this month, the platform introduced FlexiWatch, a new streaming bundle that allows users to rent curated selections of African films for a limited period, without requiring a subscription. On Tuesday, July 29, 2025, Circuits announced a seven-day free access period to promote the offering.
When it launched in December 2024, Circuits positioned itself as an alternative to the dominant subscription-based model with its pay-as-you-watch system. Users could rent premium Nollywood and pan-African titles individually, typically priced between ₦1,000 and ₦3,500 per film, depending on the release type and format.
FlexiWatch represents another iteration of that model. The platform describes it as an “eat all you can” experience, and offers genre or theme-based bundles with 7-day or 21-day access windows. According to COO Imade Bibowei-Osuobeni, the bundle was developed in response to user demand for affordability and control.
This move comes amid a broader recalibration in Nigerian film distribution, triggered partly by global platforms pulling back. The vacuum has prompted a wave of indigenous experiments, many of which are still trying to define viable business models. A recent WhatKeptMeUp article documented a growing number of such ventures adapting their strategies to local market realities.
The new streaming platforms entering the space—such as Inkblot and FilmHouse’s upcoming Kava (slated for August), and Mo Abudu’s EbonylifeON+ (expected in Q4 2025)—would likely opt for conventional subscription systems. Yet, given the revenue constraints international streamers faced locally, there’s scepticism about whether these models can thrive without a strong diaspora audience base.
While it remains unclear how successful Circuit’s original pay-per-view model has been, FlexiWatch offers another interesting way to test what Nigerians will pay for and how. Fusion Intelligence’s community cinema project is another experiment in building a new distribution model for Nollywood.
However, the big question still remains: Can these new models achieve real traction with domestic audiences?
Helios doubles down on Africa’s creative industries with $75 million fund
The Sports and Entertainment Group (HSEG) of London-based private equity firm, Helios Investment Partners, has announced a new $75 million fund to expand its bets in Africa's creative economy.
The group, which already backed several sports projects on the continent, is now doubling down with support from the International Finance Corporation and Proparco, a part of the Agence Française de Dévelopment Group. IFC will contribute up to $30 million, and Proparco is adding up to $20 million.
Helios's creative bet started with its 2021 investment in NBA Africa and has since extended to other ventures like the Professional Fighters League (PFL), The Malachite Group, and Zaria Group.
The new fund will continue to invest in media rights, sports IP, and live events. But notably, it expands the scope to include physical infrastructure like arenas, hotels, and multi-use venues. Zaria Group's launch of its first mixed-use facility, Zaria Court, in Kigali this week, on July 28, 2025, offers a glimpse of the new direction. The facility, which is valued at $26 million, includes a boutique hotel, event spaces, and public sports facilities.
Helios's move adds to the growing list of investment firms betting on Africa's media and creative industries, including Sony Ventures and the International Finance Corporation.
Crunch Time 📈
Mobile gaming reigns supreme in Africa
Catch Up 📬
Creators, founders, and the next chapter of Africa’s creative economy
Creators can be said to be building a business of their fame, but if they use that leverage to sell real products, what would it look like, particularly in Africa? That’s the question the latest Communiqué essay poses and tries to answer. Here is an excerpt for you:
“The continent’s most trusted voices are no longer just building audiences; they’re building businesses. And in doing so, they’re reshaping what entrepreneurship, branding, and product–market fit can look like in Africa. As the lines blur between creator and founder, the most valuable commodity won’t just be attention, but the products creators build with it and the businesses they build around those products.”
Read the full essay here.
Communiqué’s Subscriber of the Week 🤩
Curiosity Cabinet 🗄️
Gamr wants to build Africa’s first gaming unicorn. Since its launch, over 400,000 gamers from 18 countries have competed in over 2,000 tournaments it hosted.
Why the creative economy must be central not just to Johannesburg and Gauteng’s development frameworks, but to how those frameworks are executed.
Compared to the rest of the world, the audio format is still the dominant way Africans get information. Radio Workshop wants to help shape Nigeria’s next generation of audio storytellers, one well-crafted documentary at a time.
Multipolitan’s new report, Tax Generation 2025, offers three indices showing where global wealth is moving, and why African entrepreneurs should pay attention.
Wamide Animashaun says a personal brand isn’t about being loud. It’s about being clear
Bella Naija is hiring for three associate roles in its editorial, style, and weddings content departments.
Explore Africa’s creative economy in one place. Communiqué’s African Creative Economy Database tracks 1,000+ companies, events, investors, and government actors across the continent.
That’s it for this week’s Digest. See you next week.