A consensus emerged at NECLive 2025 that African creators must prioritise building robust local infrastructure and monetisation systems before aggressively pursuing global markets, with panellists revealing that over 80% of African content’s monetisable value currently flows outside the continent.
During the panel on “Accessing the Global Creative Innovation in a Digital Economy,” moderated by Tomiwo Ojo, industry leaders from telecommunications, gaming, and digital payments painted a picture of immense untapped potential within Africa itself, challenging the prevailing narrative that global expansion should be the primary focus.
The most striking revelation came from Dominique Ntirushwa, CEO of Stream Pay Platforms, who noted that despite Nigeria’s Nollywood producing content with 30 million YouTube views, this represents less than 10% of MTN’s 200 million African subscribers. More concerning, he disclosed that 70-80% of monetizable views for African content originate outside the continent, leaving enormous local value on the table.
MTN’s digital services team presented a coordinated strategy to address this gap. Funso Finnih emphasised the telecommunications giant’s unique position to build “dams”—infrastructure for distribution, access, and monetisation—reaching 200 million users across Africa. A’isha Umar Mumuni, MTN’s representative, confirmed the company’s comprehensive strategy spanning video, gaming, music, education, agriculture, and health sectors, positioning MTN as an ecosystem orchestrator rather than content creator.
The gaming sector’s absence from African creative discourse received significant attention. Hugo Obi, founder of Malio Games, highlighted that video gaming surpasses film and music combined globally, yet Africa remains largely absent from this multi-billion-dollar industry. He emphasised that virtually every child with smartphone access engages with games, representing a massive opportunity for African storytellers.
Payment infrastructure emerged as a critical bottleneck. Ntirushwa outlined Stream Pay’s approach of partnering with mobile operators to reduce data costs and implementing micro-billing subscriptions—allowing consumers to pay 100 naira every other day instead of 3,000-5,000 naira monthly subscriptions. The platform aims to ensure real-time payouts to creators, bridging the gap between distribution and financial services.
Quality and business model innovation were identified as essential for future competitiveness. Mumuni called for continued improvement in content quality while acknowledging progress, citing video director TG Omori as an example of excellence. She challenged the industry to reimagine business models, noting that current revenue distribution across extensive value chains leaves creators with insufficient compensation.
The panel concluded with unanimous agreement that while diaspora networks and global markets remain important, the immediate priority must be maximising local monetisation, improving content quality, and ensuring equitable value distribution across Africa’s creative ecosystem before aggressively pursuing international expansion.
