The Growth of the African Film Industry: Reforms in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa

Pretty sure we’ve all seen the Netflix invites to Queen Charlotte’s brunch in South Africa. Well, this comes just a few days after Netflix invested 23.5 billion shillings, which translates to over $177 million, to boost film production in the continent. However, I can’t help but wonder about the true intentions of these companies as distributors of African content to the masses.

Africa is often referred to as the cradle of humanity, the motherland, and has many more pleasurable references. This is true as Africa is home to most of the natural resources you probably have no idea about. Yes, we have everything that you need to make a meal, a day, or even boost your ego. I mean, we have diamonds!

These natural resources also include creativity, and that’s mainly the reason notable artists such as Picasso and Da Vinci used African references to come up with the different movements and mediums that exist today. Cubism, for instance, in the early 1900s, was the focal point of African references. Picasso studied African figures and combined them with post-modernism expressionist styles to create what is termed as Cubism in the contemporary art world.

We have unbelievable talent, a lot of natural resources, and a history of the white man robbing us of our core identity references, including our art. Therefore, it’s not only befitting for me to critique Netflix’s move in putting money into our films, but it should also be the first move for our governments to think about this sudden interest in all of our films.

Africa lacks the money and tools to grow the industry itself, or so they say, but let’s just think about this for a moment. Is it just a move to milk our creatives by providing them with everything they’ve ever wanted, such as fame, recognition, and a lot of money? Or will Netflix expansion better our continent while still retaining our core identity?

The recent investment into Africa comes just a few days after the premiere of ‘Gangs of Lagos’ by Prime-Naija, owned by Amazon Studios. To be totally honest, the fact that it really seems like a competition between the two capitalist giants in the film industry irks me as it poses two questions for my very inquisitive brain.

I had the privilege of interviewing a well-known producer, Vincent Mbaya, for the Country Queen series in Kenya and asked him about the control or powers he had when on set. I will echo his words verbatim, “Because they have the money, they get to challenge our stories,” which basically means they white-wash our stories.

Our industry is developing at a very fast rate, especially in powerhouse countries such as Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya. So, how do we ensure that we can retain control over our narratives and produce films that really hone in on us as a people, our own stories, our own narratives?

The next step is to reform and make laws regarding ownership, ensuring that all our actors are fairly compensated. I do understand that most of us really don’t care about all the laws and the boring stuff such as distribution channels, but in reality, industries such as film require proper management to thrive.

The investment by Netflix in African films is an excellent step towards empowering African creatives and providing them with a platform to showcase their talents to the world. However, it’s important to ensure that this expansion does not come at the cost of erasing our core identity and narratives. We need to take ownership of our stories, promote fair compensation, and establish proper management structures to grow the industry sustainably.