Two new streamers crash the Nollywood party
ENFITV and FaithStream join Nigeria’s fast-growing and increasingly localised streaming market.
Hello!
The end of the year is usually exciting for the Nigerian film industry. Funke Akindele begins her now-annual billion-naira cinema run, the industry publishes its final box office numbers, and—like clockwork—there’s a significant streaming development.
Last year, that development was Netflix scaling back original productions in Nigeria. This year, two producer-backed streaming platforms are entering the market with a united mission to chip away at YouTube’s dominance.
Today’s Digest examines the claims of these new streamers and their path to sustainability.
Centre Spread 🗞️
EnFiTV’s plan to increase filmmakers’ earnings
One of the biggest headaches for Nigerian filmmakers is how to effectively and consistently recoup the money invested in their movies. The keywords are “effectively” and “consistently.” Nigeria lacks an established cinema-going culture, piracy remains persistent, and YouTube, the de facto distribution channel for many following the reduced activity of major streamers from the Nigerian market, offers low earnings and limited revenue control.
A team of filmmakers— Olaniyi Famodun and Lanre Awolokun, both producers of Lastcall (2024), and Kome Agbanoma (Lara of Lagos)—believe they have a solution with EnFiTV.
This new streaming platform currently operates on two layers: a consumer-facing app charging 5000 naira domestically and $9.9 internationally, and a producer/filmmaker-facing platform. Think of it like Spotify and Spotify for Artists.
Unlike streaming platforms that rely on acquisitions or exclusive licensing deals, EnFiTV functions like a marketplace. Producers upload content directly through a dashboard for review. Once the titles are approved, they start earning at rates the company claims are at least 1,000% higher than YouTube’s pay-per-view rates. Filmmakers can track payments, viewership, and analytics in real-time.
Crucially, like Spotify, EnFiTV does not require exclusivity. Films available on the platform can also live elsewhere, allowing producers to maximise potential revenue. “Producers want more margins, and they sell to the highest bidder,” Agbanoma, EnFiTV’s head of product and go-to-market, told Communiqué. “We don’t want to take that right away from them. We want to empower them to earn as much as possible.”
However, success won’t come easily. ENFiTV wants to position itself as the global home of Nollywood streaming, particularly targeting African diaspora audiences who are culturally connected but underserved by existing platforms. It’s a promising niche: viewers abroad are more accustomed to paying for digital content and value convenient access to culturally relevant media.
But it’s also a contested space. Platforms like Filmhouse’s Kava and EbonyLife’s ON Plus are pursuing the same audience, with deeper catalogues, institutional backing, and established industry relationships. Their strategies lean on exclusivity and originals. EnFiTV’s marketplace approach shifts power toward creators, potentially changing incentives from licensing once to building catalogues across streamers.
EnFiTV’s model also faces key challenges: content quality control, audience willingness to pay, and the ability to scale payouts to filmmakers sustainably.
But if EnFiTV executes, it could set off a new era for streaming in Nollywood, one where filmmakers have more say in how their works are distributed and how much they earn. Instead of platforms competing based on who has the most exclusive titles, the competition could shift to who offers the best viewing experience, the most flexible access, fairer payouts, and clearer reporting. In that kind of ecosystem, creators benefit, audiences benefit, and the industry becomes more open instead of being controlled by a few major players.
FaithStream targets an underserved streaming audience: African Christians
Starting in January 2026, African audiences will have a dedicated platform to stream their favourite Christian movies and shows. FaithStream, a new streaming service from new media company House of Faith, aims to become the continent’s first large-scale home for faith-based entertainment.
The platform will host a mix of original Christian and inspirational content, including feature films, TV series, documentaries, and podcasts, all available to viewers for free.
House of Faith was established by former Sony Entertainment executive Kunle Falodun earlier this year on the premise that African Christians represent a significant but underserved audience. The company estimates that globally there are fewer than 500,000 hours of Christian content compared to more than 2 billion hours of secular streaming content available to African audiences. And it wants to fill that gap.
FaithStream is the first product in the broader ecosystem House of Faith is building. It says that plans are underway for production studios in Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa, along with a publishing arm, live events portfolio, and a distribution network reaching more than 49 TV channels across the continent.
The opportunity is clear.
Mount Zion Faith Ministries, a pioneer in the African faith-based media space, has produced over 200 films in the past four decades. Still, it relies heavily on YouTube for digital distribution. FaithStream can serve as another distribution platform. Shows like The Chosen and House of David have proven that faith-based content can succeed on streaming platforms globally. The question now is whether this can work in Africa.
House of Faith says it can keep FaithStream free to access thanks to its donor-funded approach. Though that removes a significant barrier, its long-term sustainability and stability will depend on whether funding can keep pace with the audience demand and the costs of creating or licensing high-quality content. That’s a tough balancing act in an ecosystem where even commercial streamers struggle with retention and monetisation.
Crunch Time 📈
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Here are the events happening across Africa’s creative economy this weekend and next week:
December 3 -7: Dakar Fashion Week in Dakar, Senegal
December 5 -7: The Rage Expo in Gauteng, Johannesburg, South Africa
Explore more of 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.
Thank you for reading Communiqué! Help us give Africa’s media and creative industries the coverage they deserve by donating here.
That’s it for this week’s Digest. See you next week.