Centurion, an organization of lawyers and business advisors have said sports, media and the entertainment industry on the continent holds enormous investment potential given the promise the continent continues to show in that space.
According to Centurion, African media content for instance competes favourably on the radio and streaming networks on a global scale, spurring key investments from media giants like Disney and Netflix in recent years.
The continent, the group also points out, is a major contributor in the world sports industry particularly in consumption and talent exportation, noting that discussions must now revolve around the question of how the AfCFTA and intra-African collaboration can be best employed to secure the future of sports, media and entertainment industries on the continent.
Centurion is of the view that the development of local industrialisation, production and distribution infrastructures for the consumption of sports, media and entertainment will be the key to the success of the sports, media and entertainment industries in AfCFTA.
“It will be near impossible to unlock the true value of this agreement without Africa first fixing its infrastructure deficit and this is relevant even beyond the sports and entertainment sectors. African countries must aim to localize its production and distribution processes as much as possible to control a larger part of the African market,” said Centurion.
The group are advocating for investments in the sports, media and entertainment industries to develop them to be able to compete with global giants.
“The music industry today is primarily dominated by streaming consumers and with the rise of movie streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon TV, the film industry is leaning towards this model as well. The time is ripe to develop African digital infrastructures to leverage upon the continent’s population resource in industries like music and film where there is already an appreciable global presence. It is indeed the right time to create our own entertainment giants,” it said.
“In the sports arena, rather than constantly exporting our best talents, local investment in sports like football, for example, can provide the required infrastructure to ensure that African athletes can thrive right here on the continent. This will serve to effectively reduce talent flight, a major challenge in the industry today. It could eventually place African leagues at par with the popular European leagues where so many players of African descent consistently perform excellently,” it added.
Africa has become the biggest trading bloc in the world with the commencement of the AfCFTA on January 1, 2021.
With a combined GDP of $3.4 trillion and a market of 1.2 billion people, intra-trade in goods, labour and services is expected to increase to over 81 per cent in a few decades.
