As part of its strategy to boost subscriptions in the African market, Netflix has launched a free mobile plan for Kenyan consumers.
Audiences in Kenya will experience Netflix video content completely free of charge, the subscription video-on-demand service said Monday.
The provision will enable people to enjoy Netflix ad-free on Android mobile phones in Kenya.
All the user has to do is enter their email, confirm they are 18 or over and create a password.
“If you’ve never watched Netflix before — and many people in Kenya haven’t — this is a great way to experience our service. And if you like what you see, it’s easy to upgrade to one of our paid plans so you can enjoy our full catalog on your TV or laptop as well,” Cathy Conk, the Director, Product Innovation at Netflix said in a statement.
The free plan will start rolling out in Kenya on Monday.
“We hope it’s a great match and that many of the people who try our free plan love Netflix so much that over time they upgrade to a full, paid subscription,” Conk added.
Although its entry in Africa came late (2016), Netflix has in the recent months embarked on a deliberate effort to widen its footprint across Africa, beginning with the more obvious markets – South Africa and Nigeria – due to demographics and demand. The launch of the free plan in Kenya could signify the intent to spread out much further.
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Last year, Dorothy Ghettuba, Netflix’s head of Africa originals told CNN: “The appetite for African stories is there. Africans are excited about local content that is best in class.”
So far, the video streaming service has pumped significant resources into producing original content from the continent. The objective being to create content that resonates with the continent’s diverse culture and experiences.
In May 2020, Netflix launched its “Made in Africa” collection.
The collection featured hundreds of Netflix titles shot in Africa, including Nigerian drama ‘Lionheart’, which Netflix won the right to distribute after its Toronto Film Festival premiere.
In February of the same year, Netflix released its first African original, the South African crime series ‘Queen Sono’ and followed this with ‘Blood and Water’, starring South African actress Ama Qamata.
It has since commissioned several original stories from Nigeria and South Africa.
That notwithstanding, Netflix must surmount barriers on the continent, among them; high data costs, low smartphone penetration and slow broadband.
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Netflix’s monthly subscription is still hefty for many across Africa. In Uganda for example, many users still share accounts, with a single account being shared by as many as as five users.
The company will also have to contend with existing local competition from MultiChoice’s Showmax service, Iroko TV in West Africa, as well as the emerging entry of other international players Disney+ and Amazon Prime.
Projections made by Digital TV Research, a London-based business intelligence company, indicate that the number of subscription video-on-demand users in Africa will top 5 million by the end of 2021, and triple to 15 million by 2026.
The same projections place Netflix ahead of competitors, with the highest number of subscribers both at the end of 2021 (2.61 million), and by 2026 (5.84 million).
