iROKOtv unveils international content to meet Africa’s growing market needs

Africa focused video-on-demand service iROKOtv is unveiling a new international content package, targeting its diverse subscribers throughout the continent. Adding to its existing line-up of Nollywood focused series and movies, the new content categories include international content such as movies Hollywood, Bollywood, and Korea as well as Telenovelas.

The Netflix of Africa launched in 2011 and is currently the region’s 11th largest Pay TV operator, with plans of becoming part of the top 5 in the near future. iROKOtv secured additional funding early 2014, bringing the total raised from Tiger Global, Kinnevik and Rise Capital to US$25-million.

Last week, the company expanded its offices to East Africa with the hope of further securing the local regional market. In the past, iROKOtv has proved to be largely popular with the continent’s diaspora.

Jason Njoku, iROKOtv Co-founder and CEO says, “We have been passionate about bringing affordable content to viewers across Africa. This is just another milestone towards that. Internet TV will enable hundreds of millions of fans across the continent to finally be able to access awesome content.

Pay TV subscriptions across Africa currently stand at 10 million, with international bundles costing as much as US$40 per month, compared to iROKO’s US$2.50 monthly charge. Today’s announcement from iROKOtv sees the company push for legally acquired quality content (the continent also sees the biggest online piracy rates), at an affordable price for Africa’s population of 800-million.

The biggest challenge to gaining customers locally is not only the lack of choice but a lack of infrastructure as well. However, the mobile revolution is said to propel this growth of internet-enabled devices, which will continue to grow as data becomes more affordable. Njoku explains:

“Our audience combats challenges not faced by their Western counterparts, such as a lack of constant electricity supplies to power their mobile phones, laptops and tablets, so we have to design our products within these parameters. We have spent the last three years understanding how to address these challenges, as well as focusing on how to deliver awesome, affordable and legal content in extreme bandwidth-light environments.”