Akoroko Premium Archive
Browse past Akoroko Premium reports. Each archive purchase includes a 3-month Akoroko Premium subscription — you will receive all new Premium dispatches by email for three months from the date of purchase.
Localized pricing available in Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, and South Africa.
Purchase individual past reports without a subscription.
1 report
$24 USDAccess one past Akoroko Premium report.
Includes a 3-month Akoroko Premium subscription — receive all new Premium dispatches by email for three months.
Localized pricing available in Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, and South Africa.
PURCHASE ACCESSMore than 1 report
For larger archive requests, institutional access, or custom report packages, please contact us through the contact page.
CONTACT US
Past Premium ReportsBrowse selected past Akoroko Premium reports below. Each listing includes the report title and opening excerpt. Full access is available by subscription or through one-time archive purchase.
PremiumQ1 2026: Three Stories, Same Conditions, So it Goes…
Four years after Akoroko launched, the quarterly analysis remains the same because the conditions have not changed materially enough to produce a different one. Streaming contraction is complete. The finance credibility gap widened. Policy divergence deepened. And yet, somehow, the work is happening.
PremiumWho’s Actually Distributing Films Theatrically Across Africa?
This is the first published attempt by Akoroko / African Film Press to map the theatrical distributor landscape across Africa. Across 54 African countries, approximately 20 companies handle theatrical film distribution, with at least 41 countries appearing to have no standalone theatrical distributor operating within their borders at all.
PremiumAfrica Streaming & Infrastructure Watch — April Update
The April update to Africa Streaming & Infrastructure Watch tracks the latest developments across streaming platforms, digital infrastructure, and content distribution networks operating across the continent. This edition covers 36 events across 54 countries, with 7 new entries since the last update.
PremiumWhere Hollywood Wins, Where It Doesn’t: Market Power Across Africa’s Largest Film Economies
Africa’s theatrical film markets don’t behave as a single bloc. Across eight markets in this baseline, Hollywood’s share of box office revenue ranges from 96% in South Africa to an estimated 20% in Ethiopia. The results vary sharply by market, and the source base varies as well.
PremiumIntroducing Ask the Akoroko Premium Archive — Version 0.1
Ask the Archive is a new tool for Akoroko Premium subscribers. It lets you search across every dispatch we’ve published since 2022 — over 1,500 reports on African film, television, and digital media — and get grounded, source-cited answers in seconds. Here’s what it does, how it works, and where it’s headed.
PremiumPredicting African Films at Cannes 2026
The April 9th lineup announcement is 14 days away. Using the African Film Pipeline Registry, historical Cannes data, and trade press, here is a grounded first-ever Akoroko Cannes African films predictions list — 11 titles with a real case, two more that would have made it if they were ready, and a note on what this exercise can and cannot tell us.
PremiumMapping the Money: What Africa’s Film and Television Financing Landscape Actually Looks Like
African Film Press has built what may be the most comprehensive map of film and television financing instruments currently operating on the African continent — 35 in total. Before you read anything into that number, here is what it actually means, who those funds can realistically reach, and what the landscape looks like from the inside.
PremiumStarlink Internet Service Rapidly Reached 27 African Countries. Then What?
Elon Musk's Starlink is already active in 27 African countries as of March 16, 2026 — half the continent. The expansion was fast and required no country-by-country hardware rollout. But widespread availability is not mass adoption. A data-grounded look at what Starlink's reach actually means for streaming infrastructure across African markets.
PremiumA Critical Shortage of Locally-Owned African TV Content
In 2022, the US produced 600 original scripted series in a single year. Across most of sub-Saharan Africa, there is now one major institutional commissioner left. With Showmax shutting down, Canal+ is either the dominant or sole professional buyer of locally produced scripted television in the majority of African markets. A dispatch on what the data shows — and what it means.
PremiumThe Interactive Map v.1: Africa Streaming & Infrastructure Watch
Two days after the first edition of the Africa Streaming & Infrastructure Watch tracker, we're adding the map. The timeline gave you chronology. This gives you geography. Click any event and watch it land: which countries did it affect, how many, how far the footprint actually reached, what activity is homegrown versus externally-led.
PremiumIntroducing: Africa Streaming & Infrastructure Watch, First Edition
A new AFP tracker on African streaming, telecoms, pay TV, pricing, shutdowns, ownership changes, and platform activity. This first public edition covers January 2025 through the first quarter of 2026, and will be updated at least monthly as major developments occur continent-wide.
PremiumMed Hondo and the Business Conditions of African Cinema
A deep archival read of what Med Hondo said about financing, distribution, ownership, and why the same business problems still hold. From his first major interview in 1970 through his final recorded conversations in 2018, Hondo documented — in detail — what it cost to make films without a producer, what it felt like to be defrauded by distributors, and what he believed needed to change structurally for African cinema to survive.
PremiumWhat 32 African Million-Subscriber YouTube Channels Say About Audience Size and Money
A systematic mapping of 32 YouTube channels across Africa with at least 1 million subscribers distributing original scripted drama or films. Collectively, ~71 million subscribers and 214 million monthly views — with estimated annual YouTube ad revenue of about $1 million across the entire dataset. The audience is already there. The harder question is who turns that attention into real commercial value.
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.
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.
Looking for more than one report?
For larger archive requests, institutional access, or custom packages, please contact us through the contact page.
CONTACT US