“South Africa is the giant of Africa” – Nigerian tech investor sparks online debate

Victor Asemota, a Nigerian entrepreneur and CEO of Switfacorp, has started an internet debate by disputing the age-old assertion that Nigeria is the Giant of Africa.

He rushed to Twitter to claim that South Africa is the true behemoth, in response to a forecast that the country will account for roughly 73% of Africa’s 1.6 million Netflix members by 2022.

The Online Debate Of Nigeria being Giant of Africa

It read; “Netflix had 1.6 million users in Africa in 2022. South Africa accounts for 73.3%, Nigeria accounts for 10.5%, Kenya accounts for 3.9%.”

Netflix had 1.6 million users in Africa in 2022.

South Africa accounts for 73.3%, Nigeria accounts for 10.5%, Kenya accounts for 3.9%.

Credit: Semafor Africa. pic.twitter.com/zrKcKPgg2k

— Africa Facts Zone (@AfricaFactsZone) November 13, 2023

Reacting, Asemota quoted the post and wrote; South Africa is the Giant of Africa.

The tech investor’s comment elicited mixed reactions from Nigerians on the microblogging platform.

See below:

South Africa is the Giant of Africa. https://t.co/9xQw5viDSW

— Osaretin Victor Asemota (@asemota) November 13, 2023

See some of the reactions below;

One @ebuka_king wrote; No be like 13 Netflix accounts the whole Nigeria dey use?

@koregeous tweeted; SA is the giant of Africa becuz they have the most Netflix subscriptions? Hmm ok

@asemota responded; They don’t use vibes and Emi lo kan to pay for subscriptions but cash.

@CapitalGiants; 9ja has its own film industry that Netflix barely touches. This has more to do with fx and the $.

In reply @asemota wrote; Even that film industry is looking outside for the dollars.

@ayolola50; Actually owning a TV and subscribing to entertainment is one of the biggest signs of poverty. Rich Nations would prioritise productivity over entertainment so kindly drop this argument.

@PaulPositive4; Nigeria is not even the giant of West Africa talk more of Africa as a whole. OK Then

@Kdenkss; The real takeaway is that Africa has no actual giants, Even if you took away South Africa’s market share for these streaming providers, it would barely be noticed.

@PrinceYemiMike; Fair enough S.A might have more disposable income but Nigerians share passwords more though. We have more than 2-3 people using one Netflix account.