The U.S. Is World’s Largest Market for African Storytelling Content, Next Narrative Africa Fund Study Says
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Nick Vivarelli
International Correspondent
@NickVivarelli See All
The United States is the world’s largest market for African storytelling content — accounting for 8.7% of global demand — followed by the U.K., South Africa, Canada, France, Brazil and China.
That’s among the takeaways of a study released on Thursday by the Next Narrative Africa Fund, launched in 2024 by former diplomat and lawyer Akunna Cook, who is the fund’s CEO. NNAF is a $40 million commercial content fund paired with $10 million from non-profit Venture Studio.
Other key findings from the study — conducted for NNAF by Parrot Analytics and touted as the first of its kind — include the fact that non-English-language African stories represent 28% of global audience demand, but only 16% of available supply, “revealing a clear structural gap within the global streaming ecosystem,” the report says. So there is room for growth.
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Geographically, excluding Africa and the Caribbean, the markets where African content is most watched are shaped less by their size than by the makeup of the local populations, with Belgium and Portugal leading in Western Europe thanks to their large African diaspora populations.
The U.S. and the U.K., despite their scale, index more modestly in terms of audience percentage “suggesting that while the diaspora base exists,” African content is “competing against an enormous volume of locally dominant content.”
At the same time, strong demand for for African storytelling content is emerging in markets “both within and beyond traditional diaspora corridors,” the report said. “Countries such as Brazil — which shares deep historical and cultural ties with Africa — alongside markets like China, illustrate how audience appeal is expanding well beyond the continent itself.”
“The consistent thread” across the study is that African storytelling content “finds its audience through cultural connection first,” the report underlined.
While the United States accounts for the largest single share of global demand for African and diaspora content, more than 90% of audience activity for this type of content is not confined to a single market.
Interestingly, in the U.S. Black American women consume Black-led content at roughly six times the rate of the U.S. general population, “making them the single most predictive audience segment for crossover success,” the report said.
Meanwhile, “Black American men play a complementary role, particularly as early adopters of non-English African storytelling, helping expand reach beyond English-language titles.”
In terms of titles, “Black Panther” achieved the No. 1 peak both domestically (in the U.S.) and globally; proving “the global breakout potential of African-inspired storytelling,” the report said.
“Sinners” achieved No. 1 peak domestic demand and top all-time demand “within the cohort,” meaning within people who already had a taste for African storytelling content. The Ryan Coogler-directed film, which won four Oscars, was praised in the report for “its genre-blending storytelling and cultural allegory.”
Viola King-starrer “The Woman King” ranked No. 5 in terms of domestic demand and No. 22 globally, placing it among the strongest performing African historical dramas.
Netflix’s South African teen drama series “Blood & Water” is the No. 1 domestic (U.S.) African series, “proving the global streaming potential of Africa-set stories with universal themes.”
Indie movies such as the Mati Diop-directed “Atlantics” and C.J. Obasi’s “Mami Wata,” which was Nigeria’s Oscars submission this year, earned major international recognition at Cannes and Sundance, “demonstrating that African storytelling resonates not only commercially but critically.”
Music is a big driver for African storytelling content and “provides one of the clearest bridges from culture to screen,” the report also pointed out.
For example, the HBO documentary “Wizkid: Long Live Lagos,” about Nigerian popstar Wizkid, is a global hit within the music documentary category, positioned on a par with other music docs featuring globally recognized artists such as “Avicii: I’m Tim”; “Justin Bieber: Our World”; and David Bowie doc “Moonage Daydream.”
“The comparison highlights how African music IP is already competing within the same global demand ecosystem as major international music documentaries, reinforcing the role of music as a powerful gateway for African storytelling to reach global audiences,” the report concluded.
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