By Emmanuel Ogbodo
Netflix has denied claims that it plans to leave Nigeria, reaffirming its commitment to the country’s flourishing creative industry.
Edafe Onoriode, Group Account Director at Hill+Knowlton Strategies, Netflix’s public relations firm, clarified the company’s position in an email to The Punch on Wednesday.
“We are not exiting Nigeria. We will continue to invest in Nigerian stories to delight our members,” he stated.
Speculation about Netflix’s potential exit arose after filmmaker Kunle Afolayan suggested that Netflix had canceled some commissioned projects.
Afolayan, speaking at the 2024 Zuma Film Festival, expressed disappointment, stating that while his projects, such as Anikulapo: The Rise of the Spectre, remained unaffected, other filmmakers’ works in progress were impacted by a reduction in funding for Nigerian content.
Since its entry into the Nigerian market in 2016, Netflix has become a significant player in Nollywood, securing distribution rights for top films and producing original content, including Genevieve Nnaji’s Lionheart—the first Nigerian Netflix Original.
Despite this, Nigeria accounts for only 10.5% of Netflix’s African subscriber base, compared to South Africa’s dominant 73.3%, as per a report by Omdia.
Netflix currently has 1.6 million subscribers across Africa, with growth projections expected to hit 2.2 million by 2029.
The streaming giant reiterated its ongoing support for Nigeria’s creative sector and its goal of providing captivating content for its global audience.