Sony has recently launched the Sony Innovation Fund — Africa initiative to support the growth of the entertainment industry in Africa. The fund is aimed at investing in seed to early-stage start-ups in the entertainment industry in Africa, including start-ups in the gaming, music, movie, and content distribution sectors. This initiative will help create more opportunities for African entrepreneurs and promote innovation in the entertainment industry.
It’s great to see that Sony Is investing in Africa’s creative industry. Sony allocates a $10 million equity pool for entertainment start-ups and such investments are exclusive to Africa. However, since its inception, the Sony Innovation Fund has supported the growth of its portfolio companies by providing opportunities for collaboration, ranging from the provision of Sony-owned technologies to joint development and business alliances. With the “Sony Innovation Fund: Africa,” Sony will continue to make value-added investments and potential expansion of this activity will be considered based on its progress.
The fund will invest in seed to early-stage start-ups in the entertainment industry in Africa, including start-ups in the gaming, music, movie, and content distribution sectors. The fund is expected to accelerate the growth of the African entertainment industry and promote collaboration within the Group.
Sony has also concluded a collaboration agreement with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which is actively investing in emerging countries, including start-up companies in Africa. This collaboration will support the growth of the entertainment industry in Africa by leveraging the strengths of both parties.
African entertainment landscape.
The entertainment industry in Africa is growing rapidly, with the African entertainment and media market expected to reach $29 billion by 2026. The industry is diverse and includes sectors such as music, gaming, movies, content distribution, and advertising. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the industry, with some sectors such as cinemas, live music, and B2B trade shows being severely impacted in 2020. However, other sectors such as video games and OTT video have seen significant growth during the pandemic.
The entertainment and media revenue across South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya grew strongly in 2021 as all three markets recovered from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. This report also highlights that some of the sectors that saw immense gains amid the pandemic will not be able to sustain that growth, while others will continue to build from their higher bases.
The report also projects that some formerly niche sectors such as gaming will barrel their way into prominence while other formerly dominant sectors will see their positions erode. The entertainment industry in Africa is diverse and growing rapidly. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the industry, with some sectors being severely impacted while others have seen significant growth.
The entertainment industry in Africa is diverse and includes sectors such as music, gaming, movies, content distribution, and advertising. However, it is difficult to determine which countries have the biggest entertainment industries in Africa because of the lack of reliable data.
Nigeria’s movie industry, popularly known as Nollywood, is the largest in Africa in terms of the volume of movies it produces yearly, as well as value, revenue, and popularity. Ghana’s Ghallywood comes in second with 600 films produced annually as of 2021. South Africa also has a thriving entertainment industry with a significant presence in the music and film sectors.
However, the African gaming market is expected to reach $3.33 billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 11.62% during the Techbooky Africa forecast period (2023-2028). The rise of mobile gaming in Africa is aided by the increasing adoption of smartphones and the advent of high bandwidth network connectivity, such as 5G, which have further increased the demand for the gaming market across the region.
It Is difficult to determine which countries have the biggest gaming industries in Africa because of the lack of reliable data. However, South Africa leads the way in total annual gaming revenue in 2021 with $290 million, followed by Nigeria with $185 million, Ghana with $42 million, Kenya with $38 million, and Ethiopia with $35 million.