Netflix will no longer be available in South Africa via Telkom

As reported by Bloomberg, South Africa’s Telkom SA SOC Ltd has removed Netflix Inc. from its phone and internet set-top box since October.  Content Director Wanda Mkhize, who works for Telkom, told Bloomberg that the company’s collaboration with them would not be renewed. 

With an eye on expanding its subscriber base and revenue, Netflix has been looking into expansion potential across Africa in recent years. As of now, it’s unclear if it wants to construct a new route for consumers and present Telkom users in South Africa.  There was an announcement last month that the service was offering a free subscription in Kenya for Android mobile phone users, giving them access to “roughly a quarter of its TV series and movies.”

In an effort to attract and keep African users, Netflix has added content from several markets across Africa, including “Queen Sono” from South Africa, “Sincerely Daisy” from Kenya, and “Two weeks in Lagos” from Nigeria, among others.

According to the GSMA mobile economy report for 2021, there are 303 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa who have mobile internet access, making up around 28% of the total. By 2025, mobile internet users are estimated to account for 40% of the total population, giving internet-based enterprises like Netflix a larger market share..

Streaming services like Netflix and Amazon. inc have been able to establish a presence across the continent thanks to the availability of more affordable and quicker internet.

Netflix continues to work with a third party in the country. The largest pay-TV provider MultiChoice Group Limited now offers Netflix and Amazon.Inc in South Africa as part of its subscription video services after negotiating agreements with the two companies in mid-last year With this approach, MultiChoice hopes to hold on to more of its subscriber base while also building a buffer around its own low-cost streaming service, Showmax, which was launched in 2015.