On Thursday, January 18, 2024, news broke out that global streaming platform, Amazon Prime, is halting local content production in Africa, one year and four months after it launched.
Here鈥檚 what we know about the development that鈥檚 sparked a聽flurry of聽聽from Nigerians聽who鈥檝e come to love the streaming platform鈥檚 originals:聽Gangs of Lagos,听Breath of Life,听Last One Laughing听补苍诲听She Must Be Obeyed.
What鈥檚 happening?
According to聽, Prime Video, the third largest streaming platform in Africa, is restructuring its business model and shifting focus to its European market.聽In an email to local staff, Barry Furlong, vice president of Prime鈥檚 EMEA division, said聽that the decision was made to help the business shift focus to areas with the highest impact.
鈥淚 have carefully evaluated our structure in the region and decided to make some adjustments to our operating model to rebalance and pivot our resources to focus on the areas that drive the highest impact and long-term success.鈥
聽reports that Gideon Khobane, director of Prime Video Africa, has exited his role, while Head of Originals for Africa and the Middle East, Ned Mitchell, and Director of Content Acquisition and Head聽WW聽Major Studio Licensing Strategy, Ayanna Ionian, have taken up new roles.
Other staff members in Sub-Saharan Africa have been informed that there will be job cuts after a consultation period that鈥檚 currently underway.
Does this mean Prime Video will stop operating in Africa?
The streamer will continue to operate in the region. However, the restructuring might mean a complete halt on locally produced content from Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa.
What about projects that were underway?
Shows such as 鈥淟OL ZA鈥, 鈥淓buka Turns Up Africa鈥 and Tiwa Savage鈥檚 鈥淲ater and Garri鈥, had been greenlit before this announcement was made. And they鈥檙e still on the slate.
In 2022, ace director, Jade Osiberu聽聽a three-year deal with the streaming platform to include production of original TV series and feature films. It鈥檚 unclear how many titles have been greenlit from the deal.
The streamer also聽聽a three-picture deal with Nigerian production house, Nemsia Films in 2022. The first title of the deal,听Breath of Life,聽debuted on the streaming app in December 2023.聽After 30, the second title of the deal, and sequel to聽Before 30, has been聽聽and funded, while there鈥檚 little known about the third title expected from the deal.
A trail of multinational exits
Prime Video joins a number of multinationals that have packed up shop or been forced to restructure their position in the Nigerian market because of the unfavourable economy.
According to, Africa鈥檚 streaming market is projected to hit at least 18 million subscribers by 2029. Prime Video follows behind market leaders, Netflix and Showmax, with a subscriber count expected to hit 3.1m in 2029. In 2021, the streamer was estimated to have around 575k subscribers, which was projected to reach 1.9 million in 2026.
Like the streaming platform, pharmaceutical giant, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), announced its exit from Nigeria, after 51 years in business. Procter & Gamble (P&G) followed suit four months later when it announced its return to an import-only model. In March 2023, Unilever exited the home care and skin cleansing market in Nigeria for a more sustainable and profitable business model.
The shifting economic landscape continues to force multinationals to reconsider their investment position in the Nigerian market, raising questions about how harsh economic conditions impact the nation’s market attraction.
