Intelligence on African Film, Television, and Digital Media Markets
Real-time reporting, deep analysis, and structured data on African film, television, and digital media markets — used by producers, distributors, financiers, festival programmers, and research institutions.
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Sunday, March 15, 2026
PremiumWhat Four 2026 International Theatrical Releases Say About African Film Circulation
An Akoroko theatrical audit — North America & Europe, Q1 2026. Four films. Four stories of how African and diaspora cinema actually moves in the world: My Father's Shadow, The Voice of Hind Rajab, Calle Málaga, and Son of the Soil. Box office data, distribution patterns, and what the numbers reveal about infrastructure, access, and the limits of what we can verify.
PremiumWhat "Africa" Meant in Next Narrative Africa Fund's First Slate
On March 12, Akunna Cook's Next Narrative Africa Fund named its inaugural cohort of nine film and television projects. A first cohort. A thin financing landscape. A flood of reactions. This dispatch examines what NNAF actually selected, what the numbers mean, and why the response from continent-based filmmakers has been so sharp.
PremiumCanal+'s FY2025 Results and 2026 Africa Outlook
Canal+ released its full-year 2025 results on March 11, reporting 9.7 million subscribers in Francophone Africa — up from 8.7 million — while the newly acquired MultiChoice lost 500,000 subscribers and saw revenue fall 6%. Combined, the two businesses now cover 42.3 million subscribers across more than 70 countries. A €100 million "Boost Plan" targets stabilisation of the MultiChoice base through price simplification, subsidised equipment, and 1,000+ new salespeople.
PremiumThe Lay of the Land: Africa's Streaming and Pay-TV Market, Right Now
The global platforms pulled back. The local ones are filling the gap. A continent-wide picture of what the streaming and pay-TV market actually looks like right now — five regions, one picture — ahead of Canal+'s FY2025 earnings call.
PremiumHow a New Burkinabè Political Series Was Put Together — Watch Episode 1
TV5MONDE began rolling out "Une femme à Kosyam" across its African service on March 8, 2026. Based on official source material, the Burkinabè political thriller received at least €160,000 in publicly identified francophone support before launch. This dispatch traces the financing structure — from a 2019 CNC grant to a TV5MONDE pre-buy — and what it reveals about how locally produced francophone African series get packaged.
PremiumAfter Billions Spent: What It Takes to Succeed in African Streaming
Canal+ walked away from Showmax. MultiChoice lost over R10bn. iROKOtv burned through $100m. This dispatch strips the emotion from the story and looks strictly at the financials — why the streaming math breaks in Africa, and what a more durable path might look like.
PremiumCanal+, StarTimes, and the African Television Market After Showmax: A New Baseline
With Showmax gone, Canal+ and StarTimes now define the pay-TV landscape across sub-Saharan Africa. This dispatch maps Canal’s production infrastructure, its Francophone subscriber base, the StarTimes footprint, and what the field looks like after the continent’s most-watched streaming platform shuts down.
PremiumKenya Moves to Regulate Eight Years of Unlicensed Film Production by June
The Kenya Film Classification Board has issued a 90-day amnesty — March 4 to June 4 — for filmmakers to submit works produced since 2018 that have not met licensing and classification requirements. Non-compliant films face a ban on all domestic distribution and exhibition.
The Showmax Shutdown: Confusion, Reaction, Clarification
The Canal+ takeover brings the platform to an end. Industry reaction spreads from Nairobi to Lagos — confusion, frustration, and a creeping sense that the closure is part of a larger structural breakdown. AFP partners respond.
PremiumCanal+ Moves to Shut Down Showmax After Years of Losses
Subscribers were told March 5 that Showmax will close 'in the near future' following a Canal+ review of its streaming operations. No specific date has been given. Service continues uninterrupted for now.
PremiumHow Comscore Measures African Box Office: Nine Countries, Seven Years, No Expansion
Since March 2019, Comscore has tracked box office receipts in nine African countries. Seven years on, that footprint has not grown. This dispatch maps exactly which exhibitors report, which countries are covered, and — critically — which are not.
PremiumJoburg Film Festival 2026: Opening Day Overview — Programme, Industry Platform, and Context
770 submissions. 60 films. A three-day industry market. The Joburg Film Festival opens today — this is your complete guide to the programme, the industry platform, and the context in which this edition arrives.
PremiumParrot Analytics Is Bringing Its Global Measurement Tools to African Cinema for the First Time
Parrot Analytics, whose demand measurement tools are used by every major streaming platform, is applying its methodology to African cinema for the first time — in anticipation of Next Narrative Africa Fund's forthcoming landscape study.
PremiumCanal+ Brass on Outlasting Amazon and Netflix in Africa (Addendum)
OTT penetration under 5%, limited fibre, weak competition. Canal+ executives describe the structural conditions they believe give the company a durable advantage over Amazon and Netflix in sub-Saharan Africa.
PremiumDistribution & Sales Report: African & Diaspora Films at the 2026 Berlinale
After Berlinale 2026, who actually has deals? A territory-by-territory breakdown of African and diaspora films in the market — mapping each title by country of origin, sales agent, and confirmed territory.
Premium"Paradise" (Berlinale Review): Two Fatherless Boys, One Scam, and a Film Still Finding Its Shape
Ten years in the making, Jérémy Comte's first feature has formal control and real ambition. Two fatherless boys, one intercontinental scam, and a structure that doesn't always hold.
PremiumHaroun and Kamilindi Among Winners at Berlinale 2026 Independent Jury Awards
From Chad to Rwanda, Zimbabwe to South Africa: African storytellers take Independent Jury awards at Berlinale 2026, with a wider geographic spread than any previous edition.
PremiumSata Cissokho Eyes Greater Support for African Filmmakers as New Berlinale World Cinema Fund Chief
Equity-only funding could lock out African filmmakers entirely, Cissokho says. In her first extended interview since taking the WCF helm, she argues that public backing is not a subsidy — it is a prerequisite.
Premium"Soumsoum, The Night of the Stars" (Berlinale Review): Haroun's Mythic Return to Chad
Two women share a secret language of foresight in a world determined to silence them. Haroun's mythic return to Chad has the formal control of his best work — but the spell it casts in its first hour is not fully sustained.
PremiumSouleymane Cissé, One Year On: The Unfinished Work
Cissé fought censorship, scarcity, and indifference. One year after his death, those battles outlive him. This dispatch takes stock of what he left behind — and what remains to be done.
PremiumMorocco–Senegal Reopen 1992 Co-Production Treaty at Berlinale 2026
One of the continent's older co-production agreements enters modernization talks. Morocco and Senegal used the Berlinale as the venue for initial discussions on revising a treaty that has not been substantially updated in over three decades.
PremiumAfrican Films After EFM 2026: 24 Titles, 17 Countries, and a Market Still Unevenly Accessed
France partnered on 10 of the 24 African projects screened at EFM 2026. This dispatch maps the full slate, identifies which titles attracted buyer interest, and examines what the distribution patterns reveal about access to the market.
"I think cinema is needed throughout Africa because we are lagging behind in the knowledge of our own history."
— Ousmane Sembène
Akoroko is an intelligence platform covering African and diaspora film, television, and digital media. Led by Tambay Obenson, it provides reporting, market analysis, and structured data used by producers, distributors, financiers, festival programmers, researchers, and institutions working across African and diaspora screen sectors.
Its work combines journalism, market intelligence, and data analysis — tracking projects, companies, funding activity, distribution, exhibition, policy decisions, and other market developments across Africa and its global connections. Akoroko is part of African Film Press (AFP), a publishing, research, and intelligence organization established in 2024.
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