Entertainment and Media (E&M) revenue across South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya grew strongly in 2021 as all three markets, like the rest of the world, recovered from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the PwC's Africa Entertainment & Media Outlook Report 2022 to 2026.
The report, which was released yesterday, aims to examine and question a deep collection of proprietary entertainment and media industry data and forecasts.
The report found that South Africa’s entertainment and media market exceeded the 2019 pre-Covid levels with a total industry spend of R163 billion, representing a 15.4% yearly growth, in 2021.
Annual growth rates for the E&M market in Nigeria remained below pre-Covid-19 levels, but a significant recovery was expected over the coming years, with about 15.4% annual growth.
“E&M revenue in Nigeria will more than double by 2026,” it said.
The report found that Kenya had seen continued growth since 2017, with E&M revenue reaching new heights in 2021with a 12.6% annual growth rate.
PwC Africa entertainment and media leader Alinah Motaung said the vast entertainment and media ecosystem was growing more rapidly than the global economy as a whole.
“In essence, the industry is becoming more digital, more mobile, more pitched at media that attract the young, more evenly distributed around the globe, and more dependent on advertising in all its forms," she said.
Motaung said as far as the total global entertainment and media revenue was concerned, there has been a robust recovery in 2021.
According to the report, industries that were more severely impacted in 2020, such as live music and business-to-business trade shows, made strong comebacks despite the related revenue remaining below pre-pandemic levels.
The report said sectors such as video games and OTT video rose to new heights after thriving under lockdown conditions.
“Yet other sectors proved to be largely ‘pandemic-proof’: podcast advertising, albeit off a low base, showed resilient revenue growth of 30.4% in 2020 in South Africa, and 41.8% in Nigeria,” it said.
The report said stable overall growth pattern masked an underlying volatility.
“It is clear that the pandemic accelerated changes in consumer behaviour and digital adoption in ways that will affect future growth trajectories,” Motaung said.
According to the report, podcast advertising is also a rapidly increasing sector, accounting for R137 million of the wider audio landscape in the country, with music, radio and podcast revenue collectively amounting to R5.5bn in 2021.
The report found that while cinema was hit hard by Covid-19, it would see an increase in revenue as recovery was under way.
Box office revenue in South Africa was set to exceed 2019 levels in 2023, when it would reach R1.3bn.
The report noted that 79.7% of entertainment and media revenue gained in South Africa in the period to 2026 was expected to emerge from internet advertising and internet access.
In Nigeria, music streaming would be the fastest-rising revenue component across the country’s music market by 2026.
“Over the next five years, digital music streaming revenue will increase at a 23.7% compound annual growth rate,” the report said.
The report said the formerly dominant sectors, such as traditional TV, newspapers and consumer magazines, were at risk of seeing their positions diminish.
According to the report, future entertainment and media growth was expected from the development of the metaverse and the use of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
BUSINESS REPORT