The CEO of Stream Pay Platforms has exposed a critical weakness in Africa’s creative economy, revealing that over 80% of monetizable views for African content originate outside the continent, leaving enormous local value untapped.
At NECLive 2025, Dominique Ntirushwa challenged the prevailing focus on global expansion, arguing that platform providers and creators must first address massive gaps in local distribution and monetisation before pursuing international audiences.
Ntirushwa presented stark statistics: despite MTN’s 200 million subscribers across Africa, Nigeria’s highest-viewed movie on YouTube garnered only 30 million views—representing less than 10% penetration. More troubling, 70-80% of those monetizable views came from outside Africa, indicating fundamental barriers preventing local audiences from accessing and paying for content.
The Stream Pay CEO identified data costs and payment infrastructure as primary obstacles. His platform is addressing these through strategic partnerships with mobile operators to reduce data costs for streaming and implementing micro-billing subscription models. “Instead of paying 3,000-5,000 naira subscription monthly, which makes you think twice, consumers can pay 100 naira every other day to accumulate that monthly fee,” he explained.
Ntirushwa praised MTN’s infrastructure investments, including Africa’s largest data centre, launched months ago, designed to enable platform providers to host services locally and reach African consumers more efficiently. He emphasised that MTN’s 200 million micro-billing network through airtime and mobile money represents unprecedented monetisation opportunities.
The Rwandan entrepreneur, who grew up consuming Nigerian music and movies, acknowledged the diaspora’s continued influence but insisted priorities must shift. “We need to maximize opportunities within the local market first,” he stated, arguing that proper value distribution across Nigeria and Africa’s creative ecosystems must precede aggressive international expansion strategies.
