A ten minute presentation on digital opportunities in the media sector given at Scale-Up organised by the Africa business angel forum 2016.

1. The Media Landscape in
Africa
Scale-Up Africa
Africa Business Angel Forum
Russell Southwood, CEO, Balancing Act

2. All mobile subscribers
Featurephones &
smartphones
Smartphones
only
Android OS
Percentage uptake
of service
The Law of
Circles

3. Africa’s Old Media slowly dying?
 Newspapers: Increasing shift from reading print to online. Some
papers online is bigger than print. But digital advertising still
small. Young readers not taking up newspaper habit. News that
follows you everywhere on your phone.
 Specialist print media: Some but not the depth or range for
specialist groups like engineers, teachers, lawyers, etc
 Television: Channels growing in number but often vanity
projects. Shift from time-based to thematic. Online eating at the
edges
 Radio: Staple media diet, especially for poorer and those
wanting their first language.
 Advertising agencies: Slow to keep up with the shift to digital;
buying in; trading off old, expensive and sometimes corrupt
models. Absence of data.
 Entertainment: Music, film, etc Sometimes free but mostly
bought pirate and paid for

4. New Media busy being born
 New mobile forms of media: Battabox (Nigeria); Tuluntulu
(South Africa)
 Vertical niches: Sports Radio Brila (Nigeria);
 Digital agencies: People Input (Senegal); AIM Group
(Tanzania)
 African Social media: Ongair (Kenya); Ginger (Senegal)
 Specialist: Soka (Tanzania); Gbaam (British-Nigerian)
 Entertainment: Over 100 VoD platforms: Afrinolly (Nigeria);
Buni TV (Kenya). Over 100 music platforms: Mkito
(Tanzania); Spinlet (Nigeria); Mdundo (Kenya)
 Media devices: Mediabox (South Africa)
 TV Production: Many examples: An African City, The Scoop,
Rush, Al Bernameg and many more

5. New Media models New social media New digital agencies
New ent platforms Niche players TV production opps

6. Overcoming the last hurdles
Lower cost of data – using it without
thinking about it
A shift in the mobile revenue share model
80/20 to 70/30
Growth in knowledge and sophistication of
brands and ad agencies
Understanding the behavior change that’s
taking place
3-5 years time? I’m usually wrong on the
side of pessimism

7. The commercial break
 Free weekly and fortnightly e-letters: Telecoms, African
Broadcast, Film and Convergence, Digital Content Africa and
Innovation in Africa
 Pay-for reports: Investors in TMT (Technology, Media and
Telecommunications) sectors in Africa (2016) Consultancy
and research
 Contact: info@balancingact-africa.com